Pauley Pavilion always pulses with loud energy during UCLA gymnastics’ home meets. But when Margzetta Frazier is on the floor, she commands the attention. Her steady poise lives in the choreography as it flows from tumbling passes to dance.
“Marz brings an element of performance that I’ve never seen before in gymnastics,” UCLA senior floor specialist Chloe Lashbrooke said. “And it’s just incredibly special to share the floor with her.”
In front of the crowd, routines are painless. Before and after, there’s significant pain. As a redshirt senior, Frazier’s body has endured enough physical wear to tape her ankles, even for uneven bars routines with minimum impact.
Still, her scores remain high. Frazier has hit every routine of her career and averages 9.850 in floor exercise and 9.864 in uneven bars this season.
“How do you lock into being really confident and aggressive and working hard and doing all those things while managing your adult body?” Bruins first-year coach Janelle McDonald said. “The people that do it the best in the NCAA are people that are able to manage that the best. I think that’s why she’s had so much success.”
The fifth-ranked Bruins’ senior meet against Iowa State (8-6, 0-4 in the Big 12) is at noon Saturday, which will also be the final dual meet of the season at Pauley Pavilion. Frazier, 23, is the only redshirt senior on the team among four other seniors and has experienced not only injury, but also the emotional strain of a coaching and culture change at UCLA (7-4-2, 4-1-2 in the Pac-12).
Frazier was limited in the 2020 season due to an ankle injury, but in the next season drew the country’s attention with a Janet Jackson-themed floor routine that landed her on “Good Morning America” and other national entertainment shows, as well as a FaceTime call from the pop superstar.
The 2022 season was tumultuous due to a reported incident of a racial…
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