BERKELEY – The Golden Bears inked a pair of California gymnastic standouts with the signing of Nevaeh DeSouza (Fairfield, Calif.) and Natalie Sadighi (Laguna Niguel, Calif.), the program announced today.
 
A member of the 2016 and 2018 JO National Team, DeSouza attends Vacaville High School while competing with Dream XTreme.
 
She was this year's regional floor and all-around champion before advancing to JO Nationals, where she turned in a fourth-place all-around finish that included fifth place on beam and floor, sixth on bars and seventh on vault. In 2018, DeSouza also claimed the vault and beam crowns at the State Championships. She won the all-around a total of six times in 2018 – at the Alamo Classic, California Grand Invitational, Heart of a Champion, California Dreamin' and Delta Classic, in addition to Regionals.
 
"Nevaeh has an incredible amount of tenacity, which is reflected through all aspects of her life.  She is driven to be challenged and to always be improving," said head coach Liz Crandall-Howell. "Aside from her tremendous gymnastics ability, she has great maturity, wisdom, and compassion.  These characteristics will be a vital contribution to our team and the greater Cal community."
 
DeSouza also competed at Nationals in 2016, where she was third all-around and fourth on floor. She was fourth on bars and all-around at Regionals that year, following a vault title at the 2016 State Championships. The all-arounder also owns an eighth-place finish at the Nastia Liukin Cup (2016).
 
Sadighi is a four-year member of the Aliso Niguel High School honor roll and trains with Azarian U.S. This year, Sadighi turned in top-10 finishes at Regionals (fourth on vault, sixth on bars and 10^th on floor), and also claimed the all-around titles at the Long Beach Open and Pacific Classic.
 
"Natalie's passion for Cal, academics and gymnastics were very evident during the recruiting process," said head coach Justin Howell. "She is intensely focused, driven and enjoys the process – all skills that will lead her towards success in competition and the classroom."
 
She was fourth on vault and floor, and fifth all-around, at States. Sadighi owns JO National experience after competing in the 2016 championships. As a level 9 gymnast, she won the bars title at the 2014 Western National Championships.
 
She has served as captain of Azarian's girls gymnastics team since 2017, and was voted Gymnast of the Year in 2014 and 2016 alongside Most Valuable Gymnast honors in 2015.
 
Sadighi's brother, Shane, competes on the Cal's men's gymnastics squad.