BERKELEY – Cal cruised with season-high totals on three events and rode the momentum of its home opener to claim a historic win in Haas Pavilion, defeating UCLA for the first time in the regular season since 1985. The No. 21 Golden Bears logged a season-high 196.375 to upset the fifth-ranked Bruins, who tallied a 195.175.
“It was so great to compete at Haas for the first time, and it was really exciting,” said freshman Sofie Seilnacht. “It was really awesome to hear all the fans cheering for us. I had a lot of fun, it was a really good experience and I really hope it's like that every single time.”
This is the first time since March 2, 1985 that Cal finished ahead of UCLA in a head-to-head meet in the regular season.
“What a fantastic night. First of all, the crowd was amazing. It was a Monday night meet, it was live on the Pac-12 Network, we had a packed house and we had a brand new show on the fan experience side with our brand new scoreboard we have at Haas,” said head coach Justin Howell.
The Bears picked up three titles in the win, all from sophomore Toni-Ann Williams, and had five other top-three finishes.
Cal checked in at 14th in the nation on vault heading into the meet and feature one of the most dynamic vault lineups in the country, with five gymnasts with 10.0 start values on the event and four different types of vaults. The Bears continued to build on their momentum over the last few weeks with a 49.225 on the event, led by Williams' meet-best 9.875 for a share of the title. Sophomore Alicia Gallarzo turned in her first career-high of the night with a 9.85 to share third on the event with junior Emily Richardson. Freshman Sylvie Seilnacht matched her career-best 9.825.
“It was great to showcase the unique ability and unique strength we have on vault— finishing off with a very dynamic vault from Toni-Ann Williams,” Howell said. “I couldn't have really asked for more and we finished with a season high. I think that gave us a lot of strength going in to the next rotation for uneven bars.”
Cal's greatest improvement came on bars, where the Bears scored above a 49.0 for the first time this season by upping their their season-high on the event by nearly three-tenths from 48.800 at the NorCal Classic to 49.075 tonight.
“Back in the gym we've done a lot of pressure scenarios. We've created different scenarios for them — maybe someone in front of them has a fall, and that sort of thin -- just so we put that extra pressure on them to hit,” Howell said. “That training certainly paid off, and the momentum we carried coming in from vault helped. We were able to capture that energy and carry it with us.”
Gallarzo, who made her Cal bar debut last week, logged a career-high 9.775, and fellow sophomore Yuleen Sternberg pushed her personal best to 9.825. Junior Amber Takara topped her squad with a season-high 9.85, with juniors Jessica Howe and Richardson also registering 2016-highs.
The Bears made it 3-for-3 for season-best event totals with a 48.925 on balance beam, an event the team had made a priority of improving on over the last few weeks. Sofie Seilnacht led off with her career-high 9.80 total for the second week in a row, a score topped only by junior Desiree Palomares' 9.82, which tied for second on the event.
“Beam is the make or break event for any team. We have a great beam team and we show a lot of consistency in practice so it was nice to translate that out in tonight's competition,” Howell said.
The Haas crowd was brought to its feet with stellar performances from both teams on floor. UCLA has long been known for its energetic floor squads and came into the meet as the nation's top-ranked team on the event, but Cal had no trouble keeping pace to outscore the Bruins 49.150-49.075. Williams won the title with a 9.90, and sophomore Arianna Robinson checked in with her second season-high for the night, a 9.80.
“I told the girls after beam, 'There ain't no party like a golden bear party and we're about have one on floor,' and I think we did that. We have incredible acrobatics and incredible gymnastics but our choreography associate head coach Elisabeth Crandell-Howell has done for the girls this year has been amazing. I really think they're some of the most beautiful routines in college gymnastics,” Howell said. “UCLA always has amazing choreography. They do such a phenomenal job and bring the crowd into their performances, so it was nice to showcase our talent tonight especially when we're up such a great performing team like UCLA.”
Williams was the lone all-arounder in the meet, tallying a season-best 39.250.
“I think we gave not just a great gymnastics performance but we had a great event I think fans will want to come back and bring their families just to see these amazing athletes under the bright lights of Haas Pavilion,” Howell said.
NEXT UP
Cal gets set for another primetime Pac-12 Network Monday night meet with Arizona coming to town on Monday, Feb. 8. Meet time is set for 7 p.m.
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