Margzetta Frazier would cry every single day.

Riding her scooter on the streets of Westwood, a tear would fall with every bump she hit.

But every day, alone in her room, she never failed to remind herself.

“So proud of you,” Frazier recalls telling herself.

Fighting back tears, the redshirt senior reminisced on her journey with UCLA gymnastics this season – a journey that might never have happened, and one that has now led the Bruins back to the NCAA championships for the first time since 2019.

A year ago, Frazier was left contemplating her future in Westwood. She had missed nearly the entirety of her senior season and stood at the center of a public controversy surrounding former coach Chris Waller. But with Waller gone and coach Janelle McDonald brought in, Frazier gave UCLA one more shot.

When she reconvened with her teammates in the fall, she made sure to thank them first.

“Thank you guys for giving me a chance to be here,” Frazier told them.

It took a while for Frazier to speak up in huddles or team meetings. Instead, she chose to spend one-on-one time with her teammates in an effort to uplift them.

Leading from behind, she said, was a conscious effort. It was one part of a culture shift at UCLA initiated by McDonald. One of the biggest changes, Frazier added, was realizing that everyone on the team had equal say.

“A really big game changer was reiterating that everyone has a voice and everyone is a leader,” Frazier said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman or a seventh year, you’re all leaders.”

With the season that almost never was winding down, Frazier said she hasn’t enjoyed any year in her gymnastics journey more than this one. As she continues to bounce back from her injury, she’s putting in more work now than she has all season. Sometimes, her teammates have to kick her off events in practice for her to take a breather.

And every week, she continues to prove herself wrong.

“I impress myself because I just continue to stay positive and work hard,” Frazier said. “Every single day, no matter how hard it is.”

Frazier set a career high on vault last Thursday at the regional semifinals. She tied her career high on floor two days later on her final floor routine in Pauley Pavilion. And the three-time All-American on bars has gone 9.900-plus on that event seven times this season.

But for UCLA, Frazier’s experience and leadership stand above all. As a freshman, Frazier got a chance to go to the NCAA championships with UCLA in 2019, making her the lone Bruin on the current roster to go to nationals with a team.

“Her growth since then has been tenfold,” McDonald said. “Just the leadership that she has and being able to play off of her experiences is really important for our team.”

While she misses her freshman self’s confidence and energy – and ankles – Frazier wouldn’t change a thing. This year’s NCAA championships will be a lot different, she said.

Nationals weren’t even on the radar in the preseason. McDonald said those conversations didn’t happen on day one, but instead developed organically over time.

For Frazier, the NCAA championships were always a goal. But early in the season, the team was simply trying to get by unscathed – until the attitude shifted one day.

“Are we just going to be happy with doing gymnastics and not falling off? Or do we want to pick up the pace and go to nationals?” Frazier said. “Ever since then, we’ve really just been chomping at the bit.”

The Bruins soared to No. 4 in the country by the end of the regular season. But it took a fight Saturday at the NCAA Los Angeles Regional final for UCLA to earn a second-place finish and end the program’s four-year drought of reaching the NCAA championships.

Frazier found herself overwhelmed with emotions when talking about her journey this season. But these tears were not the same as the ones soaked up by the streets of Westwood. They didn’t come from pain. These tears were different.

“Such a hard year, but it’s one of the best years I’ve ever had in gymnastics,” Frazier said. “Definitely the best.”