There's always 30 seconds right before her floor routine begins that Cal senior gymnast Kyana George laments, "Oh, dear Lord."

Her mind races with thoughts of choreography, all the skills she needs to hit and how she'll get out of her opening front handspring without messing up like she does in practice. …  and wow, man, does she need to go to the bathroom all of a sudden.

"I'm terrified as I salute," she admitted.

Then Timmy Trumpet begins to blare out of the speakers, and suddenly her anxiety melts away as the horns of "Carnival" call her to the stage.

"It's like my brain switches and I forget everything, and I think, 'Oh, OK. Let's do this,'" George said. "I feel like I'm kind of meant to be out there in a sense, like it just feels kind of natural and I don't have any worries."

She starts out slowly, easing into her front handspring before dancing out of that first pass into a burst of energy out of nowhere.

"I know the minute I hit my first pass and turn into that dance sequence, everything's in the bag. There's no worries," she said. "I feel like you can tell I kind of like get lost in the moment. … I think it's one of those routines that really does show my personality and that this routine was made for me."

"Being on the floor kind of feels like being with my best friends where I'm able to just relax," she added.

George's joy and ease on the event are so evident that she's once again made a mark for herself as one of the nation's top floor gymnasts. She claimed eight floor titles this season, including the Pac-12 Floor Exercise Championship, and is ranked 10^th nationally after earning a 9.95 or higher for six of her 10 performances. The event is the staple of her three events this season, buoying her to Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association Regional Gymnast of the Year honors and an AAI Award finalist spot. She hasn't scored below a 9.95 on floor since Feb. 26, and nearly drew a perfect 10.0 with a school-record 9.975 against Washington on March 14.

Her dominance on the event is even more impressive considering George wasn't even sure she'd be competing this season.

"I was thinking about opting out for the longest time because my favorite thing is to perform in front of people. That was one of the hardest things," she explained.

Instead, George found solace and support where it always existed. Without fans in the stands for most of Cal's meets due to health and safety precautions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, George focused in on her Golden Bear teammates on the sidelines, watching them cheer and putting on a show for the people who support her every day.

"Not having the fans there allowed me to be closer to the team this year than I ever have," George said. "The crowd is part of my little world and my team is in the background. … Not having fans and my team being the fans was something where I could hear them and see them and I was wanting it to do it for them and be there for them. That's been one of my favorite moments."

The camaraderie has paid off with Cal's third appearance at the NCAA Championships in six seasons, made even more special for George because she's returning to her home state. After growing up watching teams compete for national titles in Texas, George will have her chance to shine on college's biggest stage in front of her home crowd.

"It's always been my goal to compete at Nationals in Texas, especially doing floor," George said. "I still remember certain floor routines from when I was 8 years old all the way through to my senior year. I was in awe thinking that one person could stare at me from the top of the arena. It's one of those moments where I just kind of hoped that's something I would get to do."

This time, George will not only have her teammates to blow kisses to or point at during her routine, but she'll have plenty of familiar faces in the stands to turn to – like being on the floor with her best friends.

"Knowing that I'm going to have old teammates, childhood friends, high school friends. … Just knowing that I'm having people that are super excited to come and see me actually at a competition is kind of weird but at the same time super exciting," she said. "I think it's just going to be kind of magical, really."

George and the Bears begin competition at the NCAA Championships on Friday, April 16 at 10 a.m. PT from Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas and airing live on ESPN2.