ST. LOUIS, Mo. – California women's gymnastics went a perfect 24-for-24 in its semifinal session to turn in a program-best 196.500 NCAA Championships total.
 
The Bears finished just one place shy of advancing to the program's first ever Super Six, taking fourth in the semifinal II session. The top three teams in each semifinal advance, with Oklahoma (198.0500), Florida (197.5875) and Utah (197.1375) each earning berths to the Super Six championship on Saturday. Also advancing to the Super Six out of semifinal I were UCLA (197.5625), LSU (197.475) and Nebraska (197.0125).

"Today was really, really exciting. With the 12 best teams in the country competing in the same place, competition is fierce. I was really proud of the way the girls stepped up," said California head coach Justin Howell. "Thinking about this entire season collectively -- how we started off in a hole and had to fight to dig ourselves out of, and then it culminated with a top 10 finish in the nation – is pretty incredible."

In semifinal II, the Bears finished ahead of both Washington (196.250) and Kentucky (196.0625).
 
The Bears set new program-highs for the NCAA Championships on every event, surpassing the 49.0 marks on vault (49.2250), bars (49.2875) and beam (49.000).
 
All-arounders Toni-Ann Williams and Kyana George both finished within the top 12, with Williams logging a 39.4250 to finish seventh and George going 39.3375 for 12th. Williams' seventh-place finish secured her first NCAA All-America honors, and Cal's first NCAA All-American since Alicia Asturias in 2014.
 
Cal's 48.9875 was its highest floor total at an NCAA Championship event. Despite a shaky start with a 9.60 from leadoff gymnast Sofie Seilnacht, Cal wrapped up the rotation with five consecutive scores of 9.7375 of higher. Making her debut on the national stage, George went 9.8125 and was one of two Bears with a 9.8 or better, with floor anchor Williams earning a team-high 9.8625.

"We don't get the opportunity to compete on podium a lot. I think starting on floor and being so pumped up got the best of us in terms of landings," Howell said. "I was happy that even though we didn't start off as crisp as I would've liked, we went to our last three events and performed the way that we're capable of."
 
Five scores of 9.8125 or higher fueled a 49.225 vault rotation for the Bears, led by Robinson's unique Piked Ilg, which scored a 9.875. Alicia Gallarzo earned a 9.8625 for her Arabian vault to rank second among the vault squad, and Sylvie Seilnacht wasn't far behind with a 9.85.
 
At the halfway point of the meet, Cal's 98.2125 ranked .35 points behind Utah's 98.5625 for the coveted third spot at the Super Six. Top-ranked Oklahoma paced the meet with a 98.9625, and Florida was second with a 98.7875. The Bears were ahead of Washington (98.0625) and Kentucky (97.5875).
 
Cal returned to action in rotation No. 5 for the uneven bars, where the Bears turned in their third-highest bar total of the season on six scores above 9.8125. All-arounders Williams and George paced Cal with a pair of 9.8875s, and Sofie Seilnacht rebounded from her floor start with a 9.85. The Bears cut the Utes' advantage over them to 0.175.
 
The Bears went 6-for-6 for the fourth consecutive rotation to round out their 24-for-24 meet. Chelsea Shu led off with a 9.85 and was one of three Bears in the lineup with a 9.80+ score. George went 9.8125 and Williams earned a 9.8625 to lead her squad. Cal logged an even 49.0 on beam, but it wasn't enough to propel the Bears past Utah's 49.4625 floor rotation.

"We became so tough this year, mentally and physically. Thinking back to the way we started and the way we finished, that's just hard to do," Howell said. "We learned a lot. We learned to trust our process and not to panic when things are going wrong.That built a lot of trust and confidence in the team all year long."

 
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