SAN FRANCISCO – For the second year in a row, and the fourth time in the last eight seasons, a California Golden Bear is the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year with Nevaeh DeSouza's selection as the league standout, the conference office announced today.
 
DeSouza made it back-to-back Freshman of the Year awards for the Bears after teammate Milan Clausi earned the honor last year. The duo are half of Cal's four Freshman of the Year honorees from the last eight seasons, which also includes Toni-Ann Williams (2015) and Serena Leong (2013).
 
"Nev has been an absolute pleasure to have on our team," said co-head coach Liz Crandall-Howell. "She is one of the hardest workers I have ever coached.  She is so consistent in her attitude and in her training.  That gives her such confidence in competition because she knows that she is always prepared."
 
DeSouza adds the yearly honor to a trophy case that also includes an All-Pac-12 All-Around First Team selection, which the conference also announced today.
 
The newcomer from Fairfield, Calif., led the conference's freshmen and ranked third among all freshmen nationally. She ranked sixth overall in the Pac-12 as an all-arounder, and 20^th nationally. DeSouza claimed a league-best three Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors and posted the highest all-around score of any newcomer with a 39.475.
 
She was second among her teammates with 18 top three finishes in 2020, which included three event titles – vault vs. Oregon State, bars at Arizona State and beam vs. Stanford. More impressively, DeSouza hit every single one of her 40 events this year, competing as an all-arounder in all 10 of Cal's meets. She posted career-best 9.90+ totals on three events – vault (9.925), bars (9.90) and beam (9.90)
 
"Nevaeh also has such a calm demeanor.  This brings so much comfort to her teammates...they know they can always depend on her both as an athlete and as a friend," Crandall-Howell added. "We can't wait to watch her continue to grow throughout her career."
 
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