UCLA gymnastics fails to clinch individual titles at NCAA championships
After appearing to hyperextend her knee while warming up on vault, freshman Chae Campbell went on to score a 9.850 as one of three individuals competing for UCLA gymnastics at the NCAA championships. (Elise Tsai/Daily Bruin staff)
By Sam Settleman
April 16, 2021 5:41 p.m.
This post was updated April 16 at 6:49 p.m.
Chae Campbell was in contention for the NCAA all-around title after a 9.9375 on floor.
But in the blink of an eye, the freshman’s chances at even competing on all four events were seemingly extinguished. Warming up to compete her Yurchenko 1.5 vault for the first time all season, Campbell appeared to hyperextend her knee.
“I wasn’t really sure if I was going to finish it out, but I’m in my hometown and so many people came out to watch and I just couldn’t end that way,” Campbell said.
The Pac-12 Freshman of the Year walked off on her own power toward the sidelines before making her way back up to the podium minutes later. Opting instead for the Yurchenko full that she has competed all season, Campbell hit her vault for a 9.850.
“Chae has a depth of character that feels very unshakable,” said coach Chris Waller. “Every single day she shows up and whatever situation, whether it’s a perfect sunny day or a rainy day, she just seems to show up as the same strong human being with the same values and same commitments.”
But after failing to qualify to nationals as a team for the first time since 2006, No. 13 UCLA gymnastics (6-2, 4-2 Pac-12) came up empty-handed at the NCAA championships Friday in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Bruins had a shot at each of the five individual titles up for grabs, but with none of the three UCLA gymnasts taking home an individual championship, the Bruins’ season will come to a close without a team appearance at the NCAA championships or an individual title for the first time in 30 years.
“(Today) doesn’t wipe away the great disappointment it is that we didn’t qualify as a team,” Waller said. “But it does demonstrate that UCLA is a team of excellence and perseveres and it’s a great example for how we move forward.”
Senior Nia Dennis led off the competition for UCLA in what was likely the last routine of her gymnastics career. After competing a Yurchenko full on vault in all 11 meets previously, Dennis paid homage to her elite gymnastics days, throwing a double twisting Yurchenko on vault for the first time since 2015 to score a 9.7875 in her lone event of the day.
“My warm up one was a little bit better, but that one felt like I was flying and it just felt like a fairytale,” Dennis said. “But honestly, to compete that one last time my senior year, I feel great. And I was really happy that I could bring it back one last time.”
Campbell followed up Dennis’ surprise vault with her signature floor routine, which scored higher than any of the six LSU gymnasts in her rotation despite the Tigers ranking second in the nation on floor this season.
Despite coming up short of the NCAA floor title, Waller said Campbell’s routine was special.
“That had the kind of energy that every single human being in the arena couldn’t help but sink into,” Waller said. “It had that sort of performance quality, just from start to finish. In my mind, she won.”
The final Bruin to make an appearance was junior Margzetta Frazier. After scoring a 9.950 in five of her last six bar routines, Frazier overcast her final handstand, but stuck her double layout dismount to earn a 9.875.
With her knee heavily wrapped, Campbell followed her All-American teammate on bars with a 9.8375 on the apparatus.
But it was Campbell’s final performance of the night that gave her the third-best all-around score of her young career. The freshman scored a career-high-tying 9.925 in the final routine of the meet en route to a fourth-place finish on the event and a 39.550 in the all-around. Campbell added three postseason All-American honors to her resume after Friday’s performance.
“I knew from the moment Chae got on to this team, she was going to have the performance level and the attitude of a senior,” Frazier said. “I expected no less from her this entire season and she has done nothing but prove that.”
The trio of UCLA gymnasts competed in their Black Excellence leotards, debuted earlier in the season during the Bruins’ inaugural Black Excellence meet.
“That’s on Black Excellence,” Dennis said. “To really be out here representing the Black girls and UCLA with pride and poise and power and unity, it was really surreal.”
With the NCAA individual championships in the books, the 2021 season for UCLA gymnastics has officially come to a close.
“Next year, we’re going to be here and we’re going to walk out with the trophy,” Frazier said. “I want to know what it feels like to win a national championship like the seniors before us have. That’s a feeling that I will not graduate until we feel that all together.”
