UCLA gymnastics looks to gain momentum at first home meet of 2020
Sophomore Margzetta Frazier earned the Pac-12 Coaches’ Award this week after her all-around performance at the Collegiate Challenge in Anaheim last week. Frazier posted a 39.475 all-around score. (Kristie-Valerie Hoang/Daily Bruin senior staff)
Gymnastics
Boise State
Sunday, 3 p.m.
Pauley Pavilion
Pac-12 Networks
By Cassidy Hunt
Jan. 10, 2020 1:36 a.m.
The Bruins will make their 2020 home debut this weekend.
No. 3 UCLA gymnastics will host its home opener against Boise State on Sunday at Pauley Pavilion. The meet will be the Broncos’ first of the season and sophomore Margzetta Frazier said it will allow the Bruins a chance to gain momentum after receiving their lowest score in two years last weekend in their season opener.
“It’s all mental,” Frazier said. “You can act like it’s your tenth meet, or you can just put into your head that it’s your first meet and you’re nervous. (Boise State has) always been confident and fun, so I think it will just be a big party.”
The Broncos finished the 2019 season ranked 15th nationally, and were ranked 7th on both balance beam and uneven bars. They were handed the No. 18 slot in the 2020 preseason rankings but because they have not yet competed, they have not yet been placed in the national standings.
Boise State’s squad is led by the Broncos’ only seniors – former Olympians Courtney McGregor of New Zealand and Isabella Amado of Panama. McGregor scored 9.900 or above at least once on all four events last season.
Coach Chris Waller said the Bruins have focused their attention on perfecting their skills to face the Broncos.
“We strategize really early in the season in terms of what skills we’re going to do in competitions, and then it just comes down to us honing in our game and sticking to what we do best,” Waller said. “It’s been a good, physical week for (UCLA). They grit it out, get to work, and make improvements.”
The Bruins posted 48.500 on balance beam at their season opener last weekend, snapping a 124-rotation streak of scores above 49. UCLA also recorded its lowest overall score since the beginning of the 2018 season – 196.575. Senior Felicia Hano said the Bruins have had to work out some kinks in training to prepare to move forward in their season.
“Right now, we are focusing on the small details,” Hano said. “We had a few lineup changes that weren’t quite in our normal range. We’ve been getting people back into the lineups, working on those small details, and getting back into a routine, and it’s all really going to help us score-wise.”
The home debut will mark the Bruins’ return to Valorie Kondos Field Floor, which was named in honor of retired coach Valorie Kondos Field at UCLA’s last meet of the 2019 season.
Frazier – who was awarded the first-ever Pac-12 Coaches’ Choice Award this week for her 39.475 all-around debut – said she has high expectation for the Bruins’ return to Pauley Pavilion because it will mark the end of one chapter and the start of another.
“I’m anticipating a lot of love,” Frazier said. “The first home meet of the season will be us opening a new chapter to the legacy of this program. I think it will be historical and a lot of fun and I can’t even imagine the energy in that place.”
UCLA will host Boise State at 3 p.m. Sunday.
