Three Bruins Qualify for NCAA Gymnastics Championships
April 05, 2021 | Gymnastics
A trio of Bruins will compete as individuals at the 2021 NCAA Gymnastics Championships in Fort Worth, Texas. Freshman Chae Campbell qualified as an all-arounder, and senior Nia Dennis and junior Margzetta Frazier will compete on vault and uneven bars, respectively.
Individual championships, along with four Team Final spots, are up for grabs on April 16. The Bruins will compete in the second semifinal session, which begins at 5pm CT/3pm PT. Campbell will rotate with LSU and start her competition on the floor exercise. Dennis will compete on vault in the first rotation, and Frazier will compete on uneven bars in rotation two. Both Dennis and Frazier will rotate with the Alabama team.
The Bruins earned individual spots in the Championships by recording the top score from a non-advancing team at the NCAA Morgantown Regional second round. Michigan and California earned the two qualifying team spots by virtue of their Top 2 finish. Campbell earned an all-around total of 39.425 and was seventh overall behind four Michigan and two California gymnasts. Dennis scored 9.925 on vault and was tied for third with Campbell and two Michigan gymnasts and behind two other Wolverine gymnasts. Frazier scored 9.950 on bars and tied for second overall with BYU's Abby Stainton and Penn State's Alissa Bonsall and behind California's Emi Waterson. Frazier won the tiebreaker by virtue of her 9.944 National Qualifying Score and No. 6 national ranking.
As an all-around competitor, Campbell is eligible for individual titles on all four events and the all-around. She finished the regular season ranked 17th nationally in the all-around and on floor exercise. Her career-highs in 2021 were 39.625 in the all-around, 9.950 on vault and floor exercise, 9.925 on balance beam and 9.875 on uneven bars.
Dennis will conclude her collegiate career with her vault in the first rotation. She ranked 24th nationally and has a season-best of 9.925, achieved three times in her last six meets. Her career-high on vault is 9.950, a perfect score for her Yurchenko layout full vault in 2019.
Frazier is the 2021 Pac-12 uneven bars co-champion and will compete her routine in the second rotation. She has scored 9.950 five times in the last six meets, including three in a row. She has totaled nine scores of 9.950 during her career.
The team semifinals/individual competition will be televised live on ESPN2 on April 16 at 12pm CT/10am PT and 5pm CT/3pm PT. The team finals will be televised live on ABC on April 17 at 2:30 pm CT/12:30pm PT.
