BERKELEY – Janelle McDonald, who boasts nearly two decades of experience at the club coaching level, joins Cal women's gymnastics as an assistant coach, head coaches Justin Howell and Liz Crandall-Howell announced today.

 
"Janelle brings a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and passion to the program.  In addition, her experience coaching at the highest level of our sport will help us continue to challenge our student athletes to reach new heights," Crandall-Howell said. 
 
McDonald joins the Bears with a wealth of technical knowledge from her several stops at club gyms around the country, including her recent 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).
 
"Hiring a full time assistant coach is game-changing for our program and we feel that we have the perfect fit with Janelle," Howell said. "Her positive and technical approach fits our culture and her abundant energy will help us continue to get One Day Better."