NCAA Gymnastics Preview_ Vanessa Zamarripa (UCLA)

Since the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships are set to get underway on Friday in Gwinnett, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta, we are going to profile four gymnasts from four teams which are expected to contend for a national championship.

We start with Vanessa Zamarripa, a junior from O'Fallon, Ill., who has been named PAC-12 Gymnast of the Week, UCLA Athlete of the Week and PAC-12 Specialist of the Week during the 2012 season.

Zamarripa was named PAC-12 Gymnast of the Week and UCLA Athlete of the Week for week of Feb. 20-26, thanks to her outstanding 39.625 all-around title in a win over Arizona State. Zamarripa won a second UCLA Athlete of the Week title later in the season after garnering a 39.575 to help UCLA win a PAC-12 title during the conference championships in Salt Lake City, Utah, edging out the home team Utah.

At two intervals in 2012, Zamarripa was named PAC-12 Specialist of the Week. She scored a perfect 10 on vault in win over Cal-Berkeley early in the season which paved the way for her first specialist honor. Zamarripa won the same honors in February for strong performances on vault and bars in win over Stanford.

Other Bruins' gymnasts that will be counted on at the championship meet will be a trio of Canadian gymnasts, including Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, a senior from Toronto who was the first Canadian gymnast to medal at a world championships. The other two Canadian gymnasts are Aisha Gerber and Ti Liu.

Another UCLA gymnast Samantha Peszek, a junior from Indianapolis, has also been named PAC-12 Gymnast of the Week this season.

The Bruins also won their regional meet in Fayetville, Ark., two weeks ago. Along with Georgia, Alabama and Utah, UCLA is one of just four schools to have won a collegiate women's gymnastics title.

It is interesting that UCLA has arguably the hardest women's gymnast name in the NCAA as we have frequently double-checked Vanessa Zamarripa's last name, and one of the easiest names to spell in Ti Liu as well.

Sports Desk- UCLA Reaches High Scores Vs. Arizona St.

On Sunday, UCLA Bruins junior Vannessa Zamarripa (pictured here), whose name we always have a hard time spelling, (two rs and one p!), helped her team reach its highest score since the 2004 Bruins squad that won a NCAA Title.

Zamarippa scored a 39.625, which we be the rough equivalent of scoring 36 points in a basketball, and she was thus named both PAC-12 Gymnast of the Week and UCLA Student Athlete of the Week.

Samantha Peszek, Zamarippa's Bruins teammate and who also had a solid meet against the Sundevils, has also been named PAC-12 gymnast twice this season.

The Bruins scored a 198.050 team score over Arizona State, which also had an impressive score of 194.85 in their road meet. Sundevils sophomore Samantha Seaman had a carer-high on all-around with 39.175.

Zamarripa score a 9.925 on both beam and floor; conversely she got a 9.9 on vault.

The Bruins now head to Athens, Ga., which lost to top-ranked Florida in a major SEC road meet last weekend; the Bruins face the Bulldogs (Gym Dawgs) on Friday at 7:30 p.m., eastern time.

In another key Pac-12 meet, Arizona won a home meet over Washington by a score of 195.675-194.925

Freshman McKenzie Fechter, for the visiting Huskies, set a new career on all four events. Fetcher had an all-around score of 39.375. Fechter tied for first on beam with 9.85, and second beam and bars (with 9.85s on each event). Her teammate senior Ruby Engreitz had a season-best 9.825 on bars.

For the home team Wilcats, sophomore Shana Sangston and junior Molly Quirk both a 9.775 on vault, an event that was won by their teammates Abree Cristello and Jordan Williams, who each scored a 9.850.

The 'Cats also had strong nights from seniors Katie Matusick and Britnie Jones.

Congrats to 2010 NCAA Gymnastics Champ UCLA

Congratulations to the UCLA Bruins' women's gymnastics team as they won their sixth NCAA title earlier tonight in Gainesville, Fla.

The Bruins had stand-out performances from the likes of Anna Li (pictured), Vanessa Zamarripa, Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, Brittani McCullough, Aisha Gerber, Monique De La Torre and Tauny Fratone.

SIDEBAR- In other sports news, the Durham Bulls won their eighth straight game with a win over the Gwinett Braves (from Gwinett, Ga.) by a 5-4 margin.

In minor league hockey, the Idaho Steelheads swept the Utah Grizzlies with a 4-1 win in Salt Lake City tonight to advance to the Western conference finals in the ECHL. The Steelheads will start their next series in Boise, Ida., on April 30, against either Stockton or Bakersfield. The Steeleads were lead by star goalie Richard Bachman.