Feb. 12, 2013

Pac-12 Interview with Gymnast of the Week Vanessa Zamarripa

UCLA senior Vanessa Zamarripa earned her second consecutive and fourth overall Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week award this season, tying the conference record held by UCLA's Kristen Maloney in 2005 for most Gymnast of the Week awards in one season.

Zamarripa won the all-around for the fourth time this season and took first place honors on three events in UCLA's quad meet win over Washington, UC Davis and Sacramento State. Now ranked No. 1 in the nation, Zamarripa scored 39.625 in the all-around to boost her season average to 39.613. She also won vault for the third-straight meet, scoring 9.95, placed first on uneven bars with a 9.925 and remained undefeated on floor exercise, earning 9.925. With her three event victories last weekend, Zamarripa has now placed first on 12 of 18 routines this season, and she also has won the all-around in each of the four meets in which she has competed all four events. She ranks first in the nation in the all-around and floor exercise, fourth on on uneven bars, and fifth on vault and balance beam.

Utah's Georgia Dabritz earned Special Performance of the Week honors, and Jessie Sisler from Arizona was named the Freshman/Newcomer of the Week.

UCLA competes at Oregon State on Saturday at 7 pm in a meet that will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks.

Also Nominated:
Gymnast of the Week: Briana Gades, ASU; Serena Leong, CAL; Makayla Stambaugh, OSU; Ivana Hong, STAN; Lauren Rogers, WASH
Special Performance of the Week: Dallas Crawford, CAL; Kelsi Blalock, OSU; Pauline Hanset, STAN; Danusia Francis, UCLA; Sheridan Metcalf, WASH
Freshman/Newcomer of the Week: Lexi Mills, ARIZ; Serena Leong, CAL; Hailey Gaspar, OSU; Melissa Chuang, STAN; Breanna Hughes, UTAH; Allison Northey, WASH

2013 Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week
Jan. 8: Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA; Jan. 15: Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA; Jan. 22: Georgia Dabritz, Utah; Jan. 29: Ashley Morgan, Stanford; Feb. 5: Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA; Feb. 12: Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA.

2013 Pac-12 Special Performance of the Week
Jan. 8: Nicole Dayton, Stanford; Jan. 15: Olivia Courtney, UCLA; Jan. 22: Tory Wilson, Utah; Jan. 29: Natasha Sundby, Arizona State; Feb. 5: Tory Wilson, Utah; Feb. 12: Georgia Dabritz, Utah.

2013 Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Week
Jan. 8: Sophina DeJesus, UCLA; Jan. 15: Hailey Gaspar, Oregon State; Jan. 22: Shelby Edwards, Arizona; Jan. 29: Sophina DeJesus, UCLA; Feb. 5: Danusia Francis, UCLA; Feb. 12: Jessie Sisler, Arizona.