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Freshman eMjae Frazier of the Cal women’s gymnastics team practices on the balance beam at in Berkeley.
Stephen Lam / The Chronicle
eMjae Frazier laughed when she thought about it.
In her first college gymnastics routine, she slipped from the bars. It was, in her words and those of her coaches, a total fluke. The top-ranked freshman has performed on podium plenty of times, after all.
Some of the pressure is off — her score was tossed as her five teammates scored perfectly. She is a part of a team, and perhaps one of the best in the country.
“It was so weird,” Frazier said. “I knew I could do the second half, so (rebounding) wasn’t even a confidence booster; I knew it was a weird fluke with my grip and I was fine.”
eMjae Frazier of the California Women's Gymnastics team, right, speaks with co-head coach Justin Howell during practice at the Golden Bear Recreation Center in Berkeley, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.
Stephen Lam / The ChronicleCal, ranked third in the nation after its stellar Super 16 performance Jan. 7 in Las Vegas to open the season, has a lot of reasons to be excited. Frazier headlines them. After her fall, Frazier earned 9.950s on beam and floor in her next routines. She was the only freshman who competed in Cal’s first event, where it gave a program-best debut performance, outscoring higher-ranked competitors Michigan, Auburn and UCLA.
The younger sister of UCLA star Margzetta Frazier, eMjae Frazier tore three ligaments in her right knee in 2019 and underwent reconstructive surgery. A year later, she was committed to Cal as a four-star recruit, looking at her education and life after gymnastics along with what the Bears were building.
Cal co-head coaches Justin Howell and Liz Crandall-Howell have the third-ranked freshman class in the nation, and Frazier is giving them a chance to do something special.
eMjae Frazier of the California Women's Gymnastics team, center, practices on the balance beam at the Golden Bear Recreation Center in Berkeley, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.
Stephen Lam / The Chronicle“She put a lot of pressure on herself” at the Super 16, Howell said. “The first two events were a little rough and then she crushed it on beam. She knows how to overcome adversity and that’s a bigger win than if she had been perfect.”
Frazier made her senior-level debut at the Friendship and Solidarity Meet in Japan a year after her knee injury. She rose to become one of the top prospects in the sport, but that hasn’t led her to believe she can waltz into college gymnastics and dominate.
Humility is one of this year’s Cal team’s virtues, and she embodies it.
“It makes me want to work harder,” she said. “But being (ranked so highly) makes me want to do better and show everyone I can keep getting better and at a higher standard.”
Cal (Last season: 7-2, NCAA Regionals)
Cal lost a chunk of its talent to graduation and is still one of the most highly regarded teams in the nation. The roster of first-year college competitors is highlighted by Frazier, but also includes Miki Aderinto, who was injured most of last season when she was supposed to begin.
The graduation of six gymnasts — Maya Bordas, Milan Clausi, Grace Quinn, Nina Schank, Kyana George and Emi Watterson — has Cal replacing 10 of 24 routines from the end of last year.
California Women's Gymnastics team co-head coach Elisabeth Crandall-Howell, center, dances with gymnasts Ella Cesario, left, and Andi Li during practice at the Golden Bear Recreation Center in Berkeley, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.
Stephen Lam / The ChronicleFollowing a record-breaking 2021 season, the Bears won a share of the 2022 Pac-12 regular-season title for the first time and had their best performance at the Pac-12 Championships with second place.
Junior Andi Li was the only gymnast from the afternoon session of the Super 16 to score above 9.900 on bars. She said she expects to improve on all of her routines from the prior year as a leader with much of the upperclassmen gone.
Stanford (6-11-2, NCAA Regional final)
The top recruiting class in the nation has Stanford excited for the future, even though freshman Ava Sorrento might not perform this season while she recovers from an ACL tear.
Chloe Widner, coming off three seasons of rough sailing, is finally healthy and led the Cardinal to an upset win in the Super 16. A lot of the hype around Stanford comes from the elite freshman class, but Widner’s return to health after spraining both her ankles has raised expectations as well.
“I got a SnapChat memory yesterday that the injury was a year ago today,” she said after a recent practice. “I’m feeling good now, though.”
Madison Brunette (l and r), women’s gymnastics team member, and Hallie Mossett, assistant coach of Women’s Gymnastics, high five after Brunette performed a routine on the floor during practice at the Burnham Pavilion & Ford Center at Stanford University on Tuesday, January 10, 2023 in Stanford, Calif.
Lea Suzuki / The ChronicleStanford finished last season in fourth place at the NCAA Regional final after a surprising run at Regionals.
Anna Roberts comes in as a five-star freshman who competed in all-around at her first collegiate meet.
“The sky’s the limit for her,” said head coach Tabitha Yim. “We still haven’t implemented her full difficulty, and it’s really important that we pace her and she stays healthy so she can peak at the end of the year.”
Tabitha Yim, Rodgers Family Director of Women’s Gymnastics, works with Stanford women’s gymnastics team members during practice at the Burnham Pavilion & Ford Center at Stanford University on Tuesday, January 10, 2023 in Stanford, Calif.
Lea Suzuki / The ChronicleSan Jose State (7-3, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation champions)
Jada Mazury wants her teammates with her next time.
The senior all-arounder was a part of Stanford’s rotation in regionals last season after her Spartans were eliminated the day prior, but her score qualified her. That just gave her more motivation to be there as a group next time around.
“You get used to having your team around you and then they take it away, you don’t know how to act,” she said. “A goal for this year is to get our whole team through to that second day so we can be together.”
The Spartans won the 2022 MPSF championship with a meet-record team score of 196.425, the third-highest score in school history.
Junior Jaudai Lopes described that as a breakout for the Spartans, and that group adds elite freshman Kyra Cato and grad transfer Ariana Castrence.
Head coach Joanne Bowers knows this season they won’t sneak up on anyone.
“I think we built a lot of confidence last season,” she said. “You don’t ever want to be at a place where (success) is just expected.
“This is a whole new group; even if you lose one person and add one person, the whole dynamic changes.”
Marisa Ingemi is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: marisa.ingemi@sfchronicle.com
