California Golden Bears Athletics
Friday, March 2
Berkeley, Calif.
7:00 PM
California
vs
Central Michigan
No. 18 Cal Hosts CMU In Home Finale
2/28/2018 7:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
No. 18 Cal vs. Central Michigan
Friday, March 1 | 7 PM PT | Haas Pavilion | Berkeley, Calif.
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California women's gymnastics sends its seniors off in style with a primetime Friday night meet against the Central Michigan Chippewas. Alicia Gallarzo, Arianna Robinson and Yuleen Sternberg will perform for the last time in Haas Pavilion beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Cal's "Senior Sparkle" meet.The Golden Bears look to finish their home schedule with a second-straight victory after upsetting then-No. 4 Utah 197.500-197.450 for the first time in the regular season. The Bears are 2-1 at home this season, with two scores above 197.0 in Haas.
In the first week of Regional Qualifying Score-based rankings, Cal has skyrocketed up the charts to a No. 18 ranking with a 196.040 RQS. The Bears also rank among the nation's top 20 teams on three of their for events, highlighted by a No. 7 vault ranking and No. 11 floor ranking. Additionally, four different Cal gymnasts rank among the nation's top 50 on individual events, With Williams ranked top 30 in the country on three of four apparatus' and 21st in the all-around with a 39.260. Freshman standout Kyana George is ranked 30th all-around with an RQS of 39.185.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
197.500
California matched a program-record 197.500 team total in the Bears' victory over the Utes. Cal used a program-record bars score (49.550) and the second-highest floor score in school history (49.525) in the win.
39.700
Toni-Ann William's record-tying 39.700 all-around performance lifted the Bears to their first dual-meet upset of No. 4 Utah in school history. Williams swept every event title, matching a career-high 9.975 on floor. Her 39.700 all-around score is one of just three in school history, with two coming from Williams herself.
7TH
The Golden Bears are now ranked seventh nationally on vault, their highest individual event ranking. The Bears have earned a 49.0 or better on vault in five consecutive meets and own a 49.170 RQS on the event. Two gymnasts are ranked in the nation's top 50 on the event -- Toni-Ann Williams (23rd, 9.870 RQS) and Arianna Robinson (35th, 9.855).
LAST TIME OUT: Bears Best Utes for First Time in Regular Season
Toni-Ann Williams' 39.700 all-around total pushed the Bears to victory over No.4 Utah, 197.500-197.450• Cal's 197.500 matched a school-record total, and it was the Bears' second score of 197.0 this season.
• Toni-Ann Williams took the crown on all four events and the all-around. She matched a school-record 39.700 all-around total for the second time in her career.
• Kyana George turned in the highest all-around score of any freshman in the Pac-12 in week eight with a career-best 39.500.
• The Bears notched a program-record bars total of 49.550, with newcomers Alma Kuc and Nina Schank both earning career-best 9.925s on the event to share the event title with Williams.
• Cal's 49.525 on floor was its second-highest total on the event in school history and was highlighted by a career-high 9.975 from Williams and a career-high 9.925 from George.
• 13 of 24 Cal performance's earned season or career-best totals.
• Five of six gymnasts in the vault lineup earned a 9.80 or higher.
WHAT'S AN RQS, AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Beginning on Feb. 26 this season, women's gymnastics programs around the country earn their rankings based on their Regional Qualifying Score, or RQS. The RQS is determined using a team's top six scores of the season, three of which must be from an away meet. Of the six, the highest score is dropped and the remaining five are averaged.RQS determines seeding at conference championships and in NCAA postseason meets. In the Pac-12 Conference, the top four-seeded teams compete in the evening session of the Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships, while the lower four teams compete in the afternoon session.
Cal currently ranks 18th with an RQS of 196.040.
TONI AWARD WINNER
Toni-Ann Williams' 2017 season may have ended with an Achilles injury, but the Olympian has come back stronger than ever to lead the 2018 Golden Bears. She owns a team-high 15 event titles and is ranked in the nation's top 30 on vault (23rd), beam (27th), floor (3rd)and all-around (21st).She claimed her program-best 12th Pac-12 weekly honor after being voted the conference's Gymnast of the Week on Feb. 27. Williams lifted the Bears to their first regular-season victory over Utah in school history by matching her program-record 39.700 all-around total. Williams swept every event title against the Utes, including using a season-high 9.925 on bars and career-best 9.975 on floor to take her titles. The results came despite Williams not being scheduled to compete on floor originally, Williams missed floor against Stanford to rest a bone bruise made worse by her Juvenile rheumatoid arthiritis and was not slated to compete on the event for the second week in a row against the Utes. A last-minute decision by Williams and Cal's coaching staff helped clinch the historic victory for the Bears.
With her 9.975 performance on floor at Arizona State, she matched her career-best score on the event and won the individual title, while matching the top floor score in school history. Williams won three event titles in back-to-back weeks at Washington and Arizona State.
BEARS BATTLE ON BARS
Though the Bears began their season with a series of unsteady bar rotations, the team has seen consistency and success in their last three meets on the apparatus with three consecutive bars scores of 49.0 or higher. In their performance against No.4 Utah, the Bears matched a program-record 49.550 on the event, led by three 9.925 performances from Alma Kuc, Nina Schank and Toni-Ann Williams. No Golden Bear scored lower than 9.875 on the event, and every gymnast in the lineup performed season or career-best routines on bars against the Utes.VAULTING TO VICTORY
The Bears have seen a steady increase in their vault score throughout the season, finishing with a 49.400 against No.4 UCLA, the second-highest score on the event in program history. California has won the individual title on the event in four of the past six meets, including wins against No. 14 Arizona State, No. 16 Arizona, No. 13 Washington and No. 4 Utah. In their record-breaking performance against UCLA, the Bears saw career highs by Kyana George (9.90), Cassidy Keelen (9.85) and Rachael Mastrangelo (9.825), and a season-high performance from Toni-Ann Williams (9.925), who took second on the event. California is currently ranked 7th nationally in the event, their highest position in the national standings. Despite using just one vault with a 10.0 start value (Arianna Robinson, Piked Ilg), five different gymnasts have tallied 9.90s or higher on the event, including a career-best 9.95 by Robinson.BEARS DISPLAY DEPTH
This season's Golden Bear roster features one of Cal's deepest rosters in recent years, with 12 of the 13 currently available gymnasts seeing time in a competitive lineup this season. After competing the full 2017 season without a single all-arounder, the Bears now have two consistent options in Toni-Ann Williams and Kyana George. Of the 31 unique routines in the event lineups, 25 of those 31 routines have earned season-high totals of 9.85 or better.RANKED ON THE ROAD TO NATIONALS
The Golden Bears opened 2018 at No. 11 in the Road to Nationals preseason coaches poll, the program's second-highest ranking in school history. Cal's No. 11 ranking was just one spot behind last season's best-ever No. 10 ranking.Cal is set to face four opponents ranked in the Road to Nationals preseason top 25 this season, and nearly every single program the Bears will face this season is ranked or received votes in the preseason poll, including two top-three programs in Utah (No. 5) and UCLA (6), and seven top 30 programs, including Washington (15), Stanford (18), Arizona (26), Minnesota (27) and Central Michigan (30).
Cal's results against top 25 ranked opponents in 2018 (using rankings at time of competition):
No. 18 Stanford -- W, 195.475-194.925
No. 21 BYU -- L, 196.025-194.350
No. 13 Washington -- L, 196.325-194.850
No. 14 Arizona State -- L, 196.800-194.850
No. 19 Arizona -- W, 195.950-194.425
No. 4 UCLA -- L, 197.750-197.225
No. 25 Stanford -- W, 196.700-196.425
No. 4 Utah -- W, 197.500-197.450
NEXT ROTATION
The Bears head on the road for their first quad meet of the season, taking on Sacramento State, Alaska Anchorage and Minnesota in Sacramento. The meet is set to begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 9.
Players Mentioned
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