Two Olympic Gold Medalists in UCLA Gym Meet

Olympic gold medalists and former UCLA stars Tim Daggett and Peter Vidmar will put on a gymnastics exhibition during the UCLA/Times Collegiate Invitational meet Saturday night at 7:30 at Pauley Pavilion.

Six teams, including three of the country’s top four, will take part in the actual competition.

Besides defending champion UCLA, the field includes longtime rival Nebraska and Arizona State, all expected to battle for this year’s title. Also on hand will be teams from Minnesota, New Mexico and Cal State Fullerton.

UCLA, which slipped to fifth in last year’s NCAA tournament after winning in 1984 with a host of Olympic team members, no longer has a single member of that Olympic team. Nor does UCLA have Tony Pineda, a member of the Mexican Olympic team in the 1984 Games. Pineda, who led the Bruins last year, is sitting out the season because of academic ineligibility.

UCLA does have a couple of top gymnasts in senior Rob Campbell, who just missed qualifying for the world championships team by one spot, and sophomore Brian Ginsberg. Ginsberg has been selected by the United States Gymnastics Federation to the three-man American Cup team.

The American Cup team will be present in its entirety with Ginsberg, Daggett and Arizona State’s Dan Hayden all tumbling, either for fun or for points.

Hayden, the No. 3 gymnast in the country, and his brother Dennis have moved the Sun Devils into contention for this tournament. Hayden, the NCAA champion on the high bar and parallel bars, broke his ankle in the world championships last fall but is expected to be back in form.

Nebraska, which has been UCLA’s primary competition in this annual meet, will be led by Wes Suter, a junior who won the NCAA all-around competition last year.