UCLA Competes at Arizona Sunday Afternoon

Sunday, February 26

Tucson, AZ

12:00 PM

UCLA

Arizona

Kalyany Steele

Photo by: Maleah Pearson

UCLA Competes at Arizona Sunday Afternoon

February 24, 2023 | Gymnastics

Meet Notes (PDF)

No. 5 UCLA at No. 27 Arizona
Date: Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023 – 1pm MT / 12pm PT
Location: Tucson, Ariz. (McKale Center)
Broadcast: Pac-12 Network
Talent: Brian Webber, Amanda Borden
Live Stats: statbroadcast.com

DESERT DUEL
No. 5 UCLA (5-4-2, 2-1-2 in the Pac-12) will travel to No. 27 Arizona (5-6, 1-4) for its final road dual meet of the season on Sunday, Feb. 26. The meet is Arizona's Pride Meet and will take place at the McKale Center at 1pm MT/12pm PT and will be televised by Pac-12 Network, with Brian Webber and Amanda Borden on the call.

IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA moved up one to No. 5 in the national rankings, which are now determined by National Qualifying Score (NQS). The Bruins are ranked in the Top 12 on all four events, checking in at No. 1 on floor exercise, No. 4 on uneven bars, No. 8 on beam and No. 12 on vault. Jordan Chiles and Selena Harris ranks first and third, respectively, in the all-around. Harris also ranks in the Top 20 on all four events - No. 5 on beam, No. 9 on bars, No. 10 on vault and No. 17 on floor. Chiles is ranked in the Top 10 on three events, standing at No. 2 on bars, No. 4 on floor and No. 8 on vault. Chae Campbell is ranked No. 5 on floor and No. 13 on vault.

LAST TIME OUT
No. 6 UCLA scored 49.6+ on its final two rotations to secure a season-high team total of 197.975 and a tie at No. 7 California. The Bruins trailed by 0.35 after two rotations but scored 49.650 on floor exercise to pull to within 0.225 and then reeled off a season-high 49.625 on beam in the final rotation to finish tied for first place. UCLA's first five beam competitors scored career-highs - Emily Lee with a leadoff 9.925, Ciena Alipio and Ana Padurariu with 9.900s, and Jordan Chiles and Selena Harris with 9.950s. UCLA's beam score was the fifth-highest beam total in school history.

CAMPBELL MAKES PAC-12 HISTORY
Junior Chae Campbell was selected the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week after her strong three-event performance helped lead the Bruins to a season-high team total of 197.975 in a tie at California. Campbell tied her season-highs on floor exercise (9.950) and uneven bars (9.850 in the leadoff position) and added a 9.900 on vault. Her award makes her the first gymnast in Pac-12 history to win at least one of each weekly award, capturing one Gymnast of the Week award in 2022, the Specialist of the Week this week, three Freshman of the Week honors in 2021 and one Coaches Choice award a week ago.

FRAZIER NOMINATED FOR AAI AWARD
Senior Margzetta Frazier was announced as one of 39 nominees for the AAI Award, presented to the nation's top senior gymnast. A three-time All-American and the 2021 Pac-12 uneven bars co-champion, Frazier has hit all 112 routines in her collegiate career without a fall, including all 20 this season. She has posted career-high-tying scores of 9.950 on both uneven bars and floor exercise this season and is averaging 9.883 on bars and 9.830 on floor. She holds career-best marks of 39.550 in the all-around, 9.925 on balance beam and 9.875 on vault. Frazier has shown tremendous resiliency over her collegiate career, coming back strong in 2023 after a fractured ankle suffered in the first meet of the 2022 season kept her out of competition for the duration of the year. She was also limited to just uneven bars for the majority of 2020 with an ankle injury and came back the following season to compete all-around in every meet. In 2023, she has competed on at least two events in every meet for the Bruins, securing season-bests of 9.950 on uneven bars and floor exercise and 9.825 on vault.

A LOOK AT THE WILDCATS
Arizona enters the week unbeaten with a 5-6 record and is 1-4 in conference play. Last week, the Wildcats posted its fourth 196+ score of the season, totaling 196.375 at Oregon State. Senior Malia Hargrove set career-high scores in the all-around with a 39.550 and on three events, including a 9.975 on vault, to earn the Pac-12 Coaches Choice Award. The Wildcats rank No. 27 overall and No. 14 on balance beam, where they have scored 49+ in six of seven meets. Hargrove and Jessica Castle each have scored season-bests of 9.925 on beam.

SUPER START
First-year head coach Janelle McDonald is off to a super start in her coaching career, with the Bruins ranking in the Top 6 each of the first seven weeks of competition. The Bruins are ranked in the Top 12 on all four events, including No. 1 on floor exercise, and their 197.850 at the Wasatch Classic Jan. 14 ranks as their highest away score since the 2019 season. Additionally, UCLA's season-opening total of 197.725 at the Super 16 was the highest by a UCLA team in a season opener since the 2005 team scored 197.300 in a dual meet at Utah. It was also just the fourth time in school history that a UCLA team has scored 197 in the first meet of the year.

CENTURY MARK
Redshirt senior Margzetta Frazier hit the century mark for consecutive routines without a fall after landing her vault at Washington on Jan. 21 and has since extended her streak to 112 consecutive routines and counting. The three-time All-American has not had a single score dip below 9.500 in her 43 meets. Frazier has career averages of 9.886 on bars, 9.872 on floor, 9.800 on beam and 9.797 on vault. Another Bruin also hit the 100 mark for consecutive hit routines this season. Junior Chae Campbell's 9.925 vault and 9.825 uneven bars against Oregon State on Jan. 29 gave her 99 and 100 straight hits without a fall. Her streak ended there, however, after a fall on beam, just her second fall in 28 meets.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK
After competing a combined total of just three routines a year ago due to injuries, the 2023 senior class is back with a vengeance. Margzetta Frazier, who fractured her foot in the season opener a year ago, has returned to compete on at least two events in each of the first seven meets. She has season highs of 9.950 on uneven bars and floor exercise. The three-time All-American has now hit all 112 of her collegiate routines without a fall. Chloe Lashbrooke, who ruptured her Achilles in January 2021, returned to the floor lineup at Washington on Jan. 21 for the first time since Feb. 29, 2020 and scored 9.850. She has also done exhibition routines the last two meets. Kalyany Steele has competed on bars in the last five meets after competing just twice in 2022 and twice in 2021. She is averaging 9.820, scoring 9.825 or higher four times, with a season-best of 9.850 against Oregon State. Emma Andres performed an exhibition on beam at Washington and scored 9.700. It was her first routine since the 2021 NCAA Regional Final and her first time on beam since Feb. 9, 2020.

CHILES CONTINUES SUCCESS
After spending the summer and fall winning multiple medals in national and international competition, 2020 Olympic silver medalist Jordan Chiles has continued her success in NCAA competition, scoring 39.650 or higher in six of seven meets, with a career-high of 39.825 set Feb. 11 against Arizona State. She scored her first perfect 10 of the year Feb. 11 with her third career 10 on floor exercise, and she has posted five scores of 9.975 this season and a team-high 13 scores of 9.950 or greater. Chiles ranks No. 1 in the nation in the all-around, No. 2 on uneven bars, No. 4 on floor and No. 8 on vault.

Chiles competed at her first-ever World Championship in the fall and helped lead the U.S. to the team gold medal with a strong all-around performance before adding two silver medals in the individual event finals, on vault and floor exercise. The Bruin sophomore also won the floor exercise title and finished second on vault at the Paris World Challenge Cup in the summer and was a three-time bronze medalist (all-around, uneven bars and floor exercise) at the 2022 U.S. Gymnastics Championships.

FRESHMAN HARRIS COMPETING LIKE A VETERAN
From day one, freshman Selena Harris has been competing like a seasoned veteran, hitting all 28 routines she has competed this season for 9.8 or higher and posting all-around scores of 39.5 or better in every meet. She ranks in the Top 20 nationally on each event (No. 5 on beam, No. 9 on bars, No. 10 on vault and No. 17 on floor) and No. 3 in the all-around. Harris has eight individual victories this season, second-most on the team, and is averaging over 9.9 on bars, beam and floor and 9.893 on vault. She tied a Pac-12 record with five consecutive Freshman of the Week awards to start the season.

LEE-DOFF STRENGTH
Sophomore Emily Lee has come up big in the leadoff position on balance beam the last four weeks, starting the Bruins' beam rotation with a bang with scores of 9.900 or higher. Her 9.900 at Utah keyed the Bruins' season-high total of 49.575, and her 9.925 at Cal led UCLA to another season-high of 49.625, the fifth-highest beam score in school history. Lee has also been successful in the leadoff position on floor, scoring 9.850 on her first-ever floor routine against Oregon State and earning a new career-best of 9.900 against Arizona State, which led to a team season-high score of 49.675. In her last six meets leading off on beam, Lee is averaging 9.875. This season marks the first time Lee has competed since 2021, as she missed all of 2022 recovering from a ruptured Achilles at the Olympic Trials.

CAMPBELL CONSISTENCY
Four-time All-American Chae Campbell has scored 9.925 or higher on floor exercise in all six meets she has competed this year, averaging 9.942, and she ranks No. 5 in the nation on the event. She has scored 9.925 or higher in 11 of her last 12 floor routines, including two perfect 10s. Campbell also ranks 13th on vault and averages 9.896. She had a streak of 10 consecutive 9.9+ vaults snapped with a 9.875 at the Wasatch Classic but has 18 9.9+ vaults in her career, averaging 9.891. On floor, her career average is 9.915, and she has posted 21 total scores of 9.9 or higher.

UCLA TO HOST NCAA REGIONALS
For the first time in 13 years, UCLA will host the NCAA Regionals in Pauley Pavilion. The three-day, nine-team competition will begin on March 29 with a first round dual meet between the two lowest-seeded teams. The winner will advance to the second round, which will take place on March 30 with two quad meets. The top two teams from each of the two quad meets will meet in the regional final on April 1, with the top two finishers advancing to the NCAA Championships. Tickets for the NCAA Regionals are on sale now at uclabruins.com/tickets. The complete field for the Regional will be announced on March 20.