Brooklyn Moors is back, and for UCLA the timing couldn’t be better.
The Olympic all-around finalist made her competitive debut this season as a pre-meet substitution and had a career performance to help UCLA move one step closer to ending its nationals drought.
Led by their best vault rotation since 2020 and a season-high 49.675 on beam, the Bruins won their NCAA regional semifinal Thursday with a season-high-tying score of 198.275 at Pauley Pavilion.
No. 4 UCLA advanced to Saturday’s regional final at 5 p.m. against No. 5 Utah and Washington, which advanced from the first semifinal, and No. 14 Missouri, which finished second to the Bruins with a score of 197.4.
The Utes won the first semifinal with a score of 198.125 while Washington upset No. 12 Auburn to take second with a 196.775.
Scores reset for Saturday and the top two finishers advance to the NCAA championships in Fort Worth, Texas, April 13 to 15. Although it would be UCLA’s first trip to nationals as a team since 2019, the Bruins didn’t appear affected by the stakes.
“This is just another day in the office,” Moors said of the team’s message after the meet. “Our slogan this week has been no regrets. … We got today done, but fresh slate tomorrow and for Saturday.”
Moors injured her knee in December, shortly before UCLA’s exhibition meet. After entrenching herself in UCLA’s floor lineup last season, the sophomore was limited to three exhibition routines during the regular season, including two on floor, where the Bruins are ranked first nationally.
Coach Janelle McDonald didn’t put Moors into the floor lineup until after the four-minute, 30-second touch warmup immediately before the event. She tied her career-best with a 9.925 that left McDonald fanning away tears afterward.
Brooklyn Moors competes with UCLA gymnastics at the NCAA Los Angeles Regional on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
“With our season going on and everyone in the lineup competing so confidently, it’s hard to make some of those swaps,” McDonald said. “Brooklyn didn’t let that deter her. She comes in every day and she worked really hard for this moment.”
On vault, a strong pre-meet warmup assured McDonald that Moors was ready to compete. Her career-high 9.9 helped UCLA to a vault score of 49.575, which eclipsed the team’s previous season high by one-tenth of a point.
UCLA was 11th in the country on vault, its lowest-scoring event. For much of the season, the Bruins lined up four of six vaulters with 9.95 start values, sacrificing a total of two-tenths in potential scoring. But Moors gave the Bruins an additional 10-point start value to go with Jordan Chiles and Selena Harris.
Even with a lower start value, Chae Campbell led the Bruins on vault with a perfect Yurchenko full that earned a 9.95. Margzetta Frazier set the table for the season-best rotation with a career-high 9.9 in the leadoff position.
Haunted by bum ankles, Frazier started practicing fully only during the last month. But the injuries cropped up on floor again when she landed short on her final tumbling pass. Frazier grimaced through her ending pose and needed assistance from trainers on the sideline, but she looked perfectly healthy on vault, punctuating her routine by sprinting toward her teammates.
The fifth-year senior got the honor of advancing the Bruins through the oversized bracket after the meet, holding a blue UCLA sticker in the air and placing it on the next round. She smoothed it out carefully with both hands and turned around to see her team jumping with joy.
Chiles pulled Frazier into an extended embrace as tears welled in the Olympian’s eyes.
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