Janelle McDonald, an accomplished club coach who boasts nearly two decades of experience, joined the Cal women’s gymnastics coaching staff in Nov. 2018.
In McDonald’s first season in Berkeley, the Bears produced a perfect record at home and qualified for NCAA Regional competition, where they managed to post a program-record 197.675 team total in the NCAA Athens Regional final, the fourth-highest score in the country in any regional final meet. The Bears ended the regular season ranked in the top 25 nationally on all four events, and on bars -- McDonald’s specialty -- Cal upped its ranking rankings on both bars from 15 in 2018 to 12th in 2019. The Bears’ RQS also improved from 49.230 to 49.275. Emi Watterson ranked 19th on the country on bars and earned second team All-Pac-12 honors on the event.
The Bears on Bars continued their upward trajectory in 2020, improving their NQS from 49.275 to 49.315 and their national ranking on the event from 12th to 8th. Watterson, Maya Bordas, Kyana George and Nina Schank all ranked within the Top 50 on the uneven bars nationally, helping McDonald claim WCGA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year honors. While Cal’s 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bears mathematically clinched their eighth consecutive NCAA postseason berth. Cal gymnasts claimed a school-record eight All-Pac-12 honors on top of three Regular-Season All-America awards.
McDonald was named WCGA Region 6 Assistant Coach of the Year and was part of College Gym News' Coaching Staff of the Year during a standout 2021 season. McDonald earned that recognition after coaching the Bears to the top NQS in the country with a 49.606 on the uneven bars. Cal tied a 17-year old NCAA record on bars with a 49.825 mark vs. UCLA. The Bears on Bars also recorded five of the top 10 uneven bars scores in school history in 2021 and Maya Bordas won the individual national championship on the event with a 9.95 mark. Andi Li and Nina Schank were regular season All-Americans on the uneven bars, while Bordas and Alma Kuc were first team All-Americans at the NCAA Championship. Li, Schank, Bordas and Nevaeh DeSouza were all named first-team All-Pac-12 in the event. Additionally, Emi Watterson recorded the second-ever 10.0 on the event in school history vs. UCLA while Watterson, Bordas and Li all recorded 9.975 marks during the season.
During the 2022 season, McDonald helped all six Cal bar swingers rank in the top 15 in the West region. The Bears are ranked in the top 10 in the country on bars. Against Iowa, Cal scored 49.625, the second-best score in program history on the event. McDonald helped the Bears post 10 bars scores that eclipsed 49.300 this year. Cal had 20 performances on bars that had a 9.90 or better this year. McDonald was also instrumental in helping the Bears claim their first-ever Pac-12 title in school history. Cal finished as Regular Season co-champions. At the conference meet, the Bears took second place and recorded their highest ever score at a Pac-12 championship as they posted a 197.425, as Li and Maddie Williams tied for second place on uneven bars. Li was named a Regular Season All-American on the event and was an All-Pac-12 performer, while Bordas and Williams were both named All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention on bars.
McDonald joined the Bears with a wealth of technical knowledge from her several stops at club gyms around the country, including her six-year tenure at highly respected Texas-based program WOGA. McDonald coached all four events at the elite, optional and compulsory levels, earning USA Gymnastics Texas Junior Olympic Program of the Year honors in 2015.
Prior to her time in Texas, McDonald spent a year with Legacy Elite in Illinois, where she led the Talent Opportunity Program (TOPs), a talent search and educational program for female gymnasts ages 7-10 and their coaches. She also coached team athletes from levels 3-10.
As an Arizona-based coach for more than 10 years, McDonald also brings a strong familiarity with the Pac-12 conference after attending Arizona State and interning for the Sun Devil gymnastics program in 2010.
During that time, she was a compulsory-elite team coach for Desert Lights Gymnastics from 2003 to 2012, where she directed the TOPs program, coached all levels of competitive gymnastics on all apparatus’ and choreographed balance beam and floor routines. In 2009-10, McDonald and her staff were named both USAG Arizona Junior Olympic Program and Optional coaching staffs of the year.
Outside of her time in Tempe, McDonald also coached young children with Kartwheels Traveling Gymnastics from 2004 to 2008.
McDonald graduated from ASU with a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies in 2011.
She has owned a National Association of Women’s Gymnastics Judges (NAWGJ) certification since 2001, and was also awarded USAG Arizona Compulsory Coach of the Year (2006) and USAG Arizona Rookie Coach of the Year (2005).
