BERKELEY – Elisabeth Crandall-Howell, the 2016 National Assistant Coach of the Year and six-year member of the Cal gymnastics staff, has been elevated to co-head coach. She will share the title and duties with current head coach and husband Justin Howell.
 
"Liz has worked tirelessly for the past six years to help take all aspects of our program to the next level," Howell said. "She knows this program inside and out, and she cares deeply about the holistic development of our student athletes. She is a tremendous asset to our program."
 
"The appointment of Liz as our co-head coach shows tremendous commitment to our program from our athletic department," Howell added. "I would like to thank our Athletic Director, Jim Knowlton, our sports supervisor, Josh Hummel, and our leadership team for believing in our vision and for continuing to help us get One Day Better."
 
Crandall-Howell has served as a coach for the Golden Bears since September 2012, joining Cal as an assistant before she was promoted to associate head coach in July 2014.
 
"I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity to continue to represent this university, and to be inspired by the surrounding excellence," Crandall-Howell said. "It's a very exciting time for Cal Women's Gymnastics. I'm honored to work with our student-athletes, and help them strive to get One Day Better in all aspects of their lives."
 
Alongside Howell, she has helped guide the Bears to two NCAA Championship berths in the last three seasons, and six consecutive NCAA Regional berths. The dynamic duo swept Coach of the Year honors in 2016, the same season that they propelled Cal to its first NCAA Championship appearance in more than two decades.
 
In the 2018 season alone, Cal logged 13 event totals that ranked among the top five in school history, including a program-record 197.500. Cal also scored a 197.225, 196.950 and 196.925, marking four of the program's six all-time best scores. The Bears earned top 25 rankings on all four events and finished the season ninth overall, while individually Toni-Ann Williams earned NCAA All-America honors and three gymnasts combined for a school-record six All-Pac-12 honors. While integral on all four events, in her two main areas of focus – beam and floor – Crandall-Howell guided the Bears to a combined 17 titles last season.
 
In 2012, the year before Crandall-Howell joined the Cal coaching staff, the Bears were not ranked in the top 25 on any event. Since her arrival at Cal, the Bears have consistently ranked in the nation's top 25, including a meteoric and record-breaking rise from 49^th in the country to ninth overall this season. No other program in the nation has improved as much in that time period.
 
As associate head coach, she helped oversee all aspects of Cal's gymnastics program, including fitness and nutrition, academic support and character development both in and out of the gym. Additionally, Crandall-Howell lends her expertise as an international brevet judge to help strengthen Cal's routines across the board.
 
Prior to her time at Cal, Crandall-Howell was a seven-time U.S. National Team member from 1987-92, boasting a multitude of domestic and international accolades. After her stellar international career, she earned a full athletic scholarship to BYU, where she was a two-time All-American and three-time NCAA Regional uneven bars champion.
 
She is one of just a handful of international brevet judges in the United States, sharing her experience judging Olympic trial and U.S. Championship events with her student-athletes. With Crandall-Howell's tutelage, Williams became the first gymnast to represent Jamaica in the history of the Olympics, competing on the sport's biggest stage at the 2016 Rio Olympic games.
 
Crandall-Howell and Howell join Utah coaches Tom Farden and Megan Marsden as the only other pair of co-head coaches in the Pac-12.