Category: News

Margzetta Frazier’s Interview with Inside Gymnastics

by Lauren Rife, posted in News
Photo by Grace Chiu

Inside Gymnastics recently spoke with UCLA Freshman, Margzetta Frazier, about her journey to compete for both UCLA and the U.S. Championships this weekend. She is straddling both worlds for the time being and wants to give elite gymnastics all she’s got before she’s done with it. Read a snippet of the article below and find the entire thing on InsideGymnastics.com.

Margzetta “Marz” Frazier has had her sights set on the NCAA for years. When it came time for her to decide on where her NCAA career would be spent, UCLA was a great option, a welcoming home with great coaches in a fun environment, not to mention its tangible success as a program. She was confident that no matter where her elite journey took her, she’d be heading westward.

Flash forward to the first week of August this year. With a slight feeling of trepidation, ultimately overshadowed by great excitement, Frazier donned her Bruins team gear for the first time. The month leading to nationals for most athletes is about increasing numbers, routine preparedness and a decreased social calendar to make room for additional (and much-needed) rest and recovery, but not for Frazier. For the past two weeks, she’s spent hours walking, taking campus tours, going through orientation, moving and becoming acclimated to the rolling hills of Los Angeles.

Emma Malabuyo Pulls Out of Nationals Competition

by Lauren Rife, posted in Meets, News

6331942B-275F-4B13-93D4-15304DEE5372Future Bruin Emma Malabuyo has pulled out of the U.S. Championships competition this weekend due to a back injury, according to Chros McDougall from TeamUSA.org, who spoke with Malabuyo on the day of podium training.

Malabuyo plans to return to camp in September where she will do four watered down routines. After that, she plans on doing four full routines at worlds camp and has hopes to make the worlds team.

Videos of Margzetta at Podium Training in Boston

by Lauren Rife, posted in Meets, News, videos

UCLA Freshman, Margzetta Frazier, is currently in Boston preparing to compete at the U.S. Championships this weekend. Frazier is representing UCLA at the championships alongside coaches Jordyn Wieber and Chris Waller. Frazier has also been sporting UCLA leotards from this past season.

USA Gymnastics has posted videos of Frazier on bars and floor during podium training. You can watch them below!

 

Peng-Peng Lee Reflects on her Career in Interview with the Daily Bruin

by Lauren Rife, posted in News

646B25DB-A5B3-4726-B2F6-C8117988D4EDPeng-Peng Lee spoke with the Daily Bruin recently about all of the awards she’s been receiving after the season ended and credited her teammates and coaches for giving her the best ending to her career. Read an excerpt from the article below and check out the full piece over at the Daily Bruin’s website.

Christine Peng-Peng Lee was scrolling through Twitter when she found out she won co-Pac-12 Woman of the Year.

“I saw that I had a mention so I started reading it and I started kind of freaking out,” Lee said. “I was shocked.”

The former UCLA gymnast won this year’s award alongside Stanford track and field’s Valarie Allman. She is only the second Bruin ever to earn the recognition, with fellow Canadian Kate Richardson winning in 2006.

“Everything just keeps happening,” Lee said. “All these awards keep coming in and I couldn’t be happier. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end.”

Gracie Kramer in New York Times Article

by Lauren Rife, posted in News

00BCF328-9286-4AD3-ACC8-1266AC3D0070The New York Times published an article about how athletes are staying in shape over the summer. They interviewed UCLA Gymnastics’ very own Gracie Kramer about how and why she decided to stay in shape over the summer before preseason starts. Read what she had to say below and check out the full article at NYTimes.com.

“We’re expected to come back Sept. 17, the day we report, in our best shape,” said Gracie Kramer, a junior on U.C.L.A.’s gymnastics team.

Kramer was on campus last week taking an intensive six-week course in Croatian, strategically getting her language requirement out of the way over the summer rather than spreading it out over three quarters during the school year.

“If you know what to expect for preseason, you know you have to kick your butt in the off-season,” Kramer said. “If you don’t, you’re out of luck: You have to accept the consequences of not making lineups, not being able to compete as much as you want.”

So each day Kramer, whose events include the vault and the floor exercise, arrives at the gym before 8 a.m. and does what she termed, pun unintended, a “flexible” workout for a few hours. She prefers the “nice open gym” at U.C.L.A. as opposed to the gym she would use near her childhood home a couple of hours away, one that she would need to share with local club teams.