No. 14 Cal at Sacramento State Tri Meet

Friday, March 1 | 7 PM PT | The Hornet's Nest | Sacramento, Calif.

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The No. 14 Golden Bears continue their four-meet Bay Area homestand looking for another strong road score to improve their standings in the RQS when they head north to Sacramento this week. Cal meets hosting Sacramento State and UC Davis in a triangular meet at The Hornet's Nest at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Women's gymnastics turned in its second-highest score of the year last week against Washington, using season-best totals on bars and floor to top the Huskies. Co-head coaches Liz Crandall-Howell and Justin Howell continue to tinker with their lineups as each week has seen a variety of gymnasts step up to deliver strong routines.

Cal currently has four active gymnasts ranked among the top 50 nationally on an event. Milan Clausi, who leads Cal with five event titles this season, is 26th on vault, and Kyana George is top 50 on both vault (46th) and in the all-around (49th). Nina Schank is 39th on the uneven bars, and Cassidy Keelen is 28th on beam. As a team, the Bears are also ranked in the top 20 nationally on all four events.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION: Friday's tri meet will be streamed live by Sacramento State. A link to the live stream, as well as a link to live stats is available on the women's gymnastics schedule page on CalBears.com. Follow @CalWGym on Twitter and Instagram for scoring updates, behind-the-scenes photos and videos and the latest information, and like Facebook.com/CalWGym for more on the Bears.
 

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NUMBERS TO KNOW

10
Cal's diverse and deep lineup has seen 10 different Golden Bear gymnasts claim an event title this season. Most recently, Rachael Mastrangelo claimed her first collegiate event title -- vault -- as one of three Bears to win an event against Washington. Additionally, 11 of Cal's 14 competitors this season have turned in at least one top 3 finish.

4
In the first release of Regional Qualifying Scores, the Bears are ranked in the top 20 nationally on all 4 events. Cal is 12th on vault, 13th on both bars and beam, and 19th on floor.

49.250
Against Washington, the Golden Bears set season-high totals on both the uneven bars and floor exercise events, earning 49.250s in each rotation. Kyana George won the bars title with a 9.90, and Chelsea Shu led Cal on beam, also with a 9.90.
 

LAST TIME OUT: BEARS CONTINUE PERFECT RECORD AT HAAS

No. 15 Cal edged No. 18 Washington, 196.650-196.350, to maintain its pristine home record
• The Bears earned season-best totals on both bars (49.250) and floor (49.250).
• Cal's 49.225 on beam was its second-highest team total of the season.
• Milan Clausi and Rachael Mastrangelo shared the vault title with a pair of 9.825s. Mastrangelo's 9.825 matched her career-high, and the vault title was her first event title of her career.
• Kyana George matched her personal-best 9.90 to win the uneven bars title.
• Chelsea Shu recorded a 9.90 on beam for the second consecutive weekend and finished as the runner-up on the event.
• Talitha Jones matched her career-best on bars and also made her balance beam debut in the anchor spot with a 9.825. Jones stepped up for the Bears as a last-minute lineup change.
• Sofie Seilnacht led off for the Bears on floor with a career-high 9.875.
 

WHAT'S AN RQS, AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Beginning on Feb. 25 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 14th with an RQS of 196.335. The Bears' six scores factored into the RQS currently are:
196.700 -- Cal tri meet, Feb. 2
196.650 -- Washington, Feb. 23
196.225 -- at Utah, Feb. 9
196.150 -- at Oregon State, Feb. 17
196.125 -- Stanford, Jan. 21
196.075 -- at Collegiate Challenge, Jan. 12
 

RANKED ON THE ROAD TO NATIONALS

The Golden Bears opened 2019 at No. 8 in the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association preseason poll as voted on by WCGA coaches. Cal's No. 8 ranking is its highest preseason ranking in school history, and it is the second time the Bears start the season in the top 10 after entering 2017 ranked No. 10 in the preseason poll. Last year, after earning a No. 11 preseason ranking the Bears finished at ninth overall after clinching their second NCAA Championship berth in the last three seasons.
 
Cal is set to face 10 opponents ranked in the preseason poll: No. 4 LSU, No. 1 UCLA, No. 21 Stanford, No. 33 Arizona, No. 20 Arizona State, No. 24 BYU, No. 5 Utah, No. 17 Oregon State, No. 15 Washington and No. 22 Illinois.

Cal's results against top 25 ranked opponents in 2019 (using rankings at time of competition):
No. 4 LSU -- L, 196.775-195.650
No. 2 UCLA -- L, 197.700-196.075
No. 14 UC Davis -- W, 196.075-194.125
No. 24 Stanford -- W, 196.575-196.125
No. 23 Arizona -- L, 195.975-194.450
No. 14 BYU -- W, 196.700-194.975
No. 19 Arizona State -- W, 196.700-195.700
No. 4 Utah -- L, 197.150-196.225
No. 12 Oregon State -- L, 196.950-196.150
No. 18 Washington -- W, 196.650-196.350
 

2019 TICKET PROMOTIONS

New this season, fans can now purchase tickets to Cal women's gymnastics meets in advance. Visit CalBears.com to purchase tickets. Admission to the meet is also still available for purchase at the ticket window on Spieker Plaza beginning 90 minutes prior to the start of each home meet.

Additionally, for every home meet this season, Cal gymnastics fans can receive up to six free general admission tickets by visiting www.calbears.com/code and using the promo code "CALGYMCLUB." Tickets can be printed at home, and gates open 90 minutes prior to the start of each meeting.
 

NEXT ROTATION

The Bears stay local for their final road meet of the regular season, heading south to San Jose to face San Jose State at The Event Center. Meet time is set for Friday, March 8 at 7 p.m.
 

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