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!
The 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.
UCLA Gymnastic’s current floor coach, Jordyn Wieber, recently spoke with former Bruin Samantha Peszek on her “I Have Cool Friends” podcast.
In the interview, Wieber talks about how she’s constantly striving to make gymnastics a safe sport. She also discusses what it was like to be Peszek’s roommate for a year.
Listen to an audio clip of the podcast episode below and check out the full hour-long interview on the “I Have Cool Friends” website.
UCLA’s very own viral superstar, Katelyn Ohashi, was interviewed by Lenny Letter. In the interview, she talks about how college gymnastics helped her rediscover her love for the sport. Check out an excerpt below and read the entire article on LennyLetter.com.
You’ve probably seen Katelyn Ohashi. Back in April, the 21-year-old UCLA junior did double layouts to iconic Michael Jackson hooks all over Facebook feeds to an audience of nearly 100 million viewers. It starts with a cool glance to the audience from beneath an imaginary “Smooth Criminal” hat, before alternating mind-bending gymnastic moves with slick moonwalks and finishing with a “Thriller”-like cackle. She performed the routine at fifteen meets this season and got a perfect 10 three times, but it wasn’t until the Pac-12 championships in March, which her college won for the eighteenth time, that the Internet really took notice.
I’ve gotten to see her perform since she was a teenager, winning national and international competitions as one of America’s most successful elite gymnasts, pegged for the Olympics at twelve years old. Yet there was a darker side to all the high scores and praise, one that came through the cracks of Ohashi’s intense focus and skill. [Read more…]
JaNay’s latest YouTube video offers up some interesting facts on herself. Check it out below!
UCLA’s Christine Peng-Peng Lee has been honored by Pac-12 Conference as the Co-Pac-12 Woman of the Year for 2018, along with Stanford’s Valarie Allman, from track and field. For the first time in the history of the award, the conference has selected two winners.
Each year, the Pac-12 Conference selects a graduating senior who has demonstrated academic achievement, athletic excellence, community service and leadership.
Check out the video the Pac-12 Network put together for Lee below.
Future Bruins Emma Malabuyo and Jordan Chiles both competed at the U.S. Classics competition in Columbus, Ohio this past Saturday.
Chiles placed 8th in the all-around competition, while Malabuyo, who only competed on vault and beam, placed 22nd. You can watch all of their routines below.
