When UA freshman Maureen Kealey sprained her right ankle to start off the season, the frustration reached its peak. While Kealey had already missed two years of her gymnastics career due to a dreadful plague of injuries, she was not about to lose another one.

"It was really tough when I hurt my ankle," Kealey said. "I had missed my whole sophomore and junior years due to injury, and I was determined to come back as fast as I could."

Her determination paid off last Saturday at UCLA when she recorded Arizona's best all-around score, a 38.65. This was even more impressive considering Kealey was not even planning to compete on the beam.

"Competing in the all-around was kind of a last-minute decision. Coach Gault told me to warm up for the beam when we started and that I might compete," Kealey said. "After my bars routine he approached me and told me I was going to do the beam."

"One of the other girls hurt herself so we needed someone to fill in," UA coach Jim Gault said. "We decided to go with Maureen even though she had fallen in her two previous exhibitions. But she did a good job and ended up getting a pretty good score."

Kealey is no stranger to pressure-packed situations. When she was a senior at Allentown (Penn.) Central Catholic High School, Kealey won the prestigious level 10 championships after sitting out two years. And while that was an intense competition, it didn't quite compare to UCLA.

"There is a lot more pressure now, because everything is more team-orientated," Kealey said. "Not only are the teams you perform against better, but if you make a mistake you let down your team, not just yourself."

And this unselfish attitude, combined with her talent and determination, was what made the Arizona coaching staff actively recruit her.

"Maureen was kind of an unknown factor until she won the championships. But after she won that, it was tough not to take a good look at her," Gault said. "But her main attribute is her intestinal fortitude. I think her determination was evident in a comment she made to us about her ankle. She said, 'It hurts but I don't care.'"

While her effort at UCLA put her on the map, Kealey has been one of Arizona's most consistent performers. She has demonstrated a high ability in the uneven bars events by recording scores of 9.850, 9.850, 9.90 and 9.925, the latter ranking being the third-highest in Arizona history. She also finished second to fellow freshman Heidi Hornbeek in the Cat Classic individual bars finals with a mark of 9.90.

"Maureen has the ability to be one of our best competitors if she can work a little more on the performance aspect of her routines," Gault said. "She needs to clean up things like foot or leg breaks and work on making a complete picture. Basically, she needs to sell like she was on Broadway. But she's been working on it, and I think it will come with time."

While Kealey echoed Gault's sentiments on performing, she feels that she needs to concentrate on just staying healthy.

"First and foremost, I have to let my body heal," Kealey said. "But after that, I have to work on my confidence, especially on the beam."