STANFORD – For a while, it looked as though the highlight of the night for California men's gymnastics would be its first rotation.
 
That all changed on the final routine of the final event.
 
Sophomore Jasper Smith-Gordon, the final gymnast to appear for the Golden Bears on Saturday night, put a massive exclamation point on the meet by scoring a 14.850 on vault, moving from fifth to first on Cal's modern program list and surpassing the mark set by freshman Khalen Curry two weeks prior.
 
"I'm extremely grateful for the support I have received from both the coaches and Sydney, our trainer," Smith-Gordon said.
 
A former World Junior bronze medalist, Smith-Gordon spent his freshman year with the Bears recovering from injury. He raised eyebrows by starting off his sophomore season with a 14.600 at the Cal Benefit Cup, followed by a matching score the next week.
 
"It feels amazing to finally be back to where I was before my injuries," he said. "My goal for now is to make it back to being an all-rounder and hopefully get back onto the Great Britain National Team next year."
 
As a team, the Bears compiled 386.250 points to Stanford's 410.200 and Illinois' 399.400. Their top event of the night was pommel horse, where they combined for 65.650 points – tied for fourth-most in program history – with the help of junior Aidan Li's third-place 14.000 (also tied for fourth-best on Cal's modern scoring list).
 
Less than a week after competing at the Winter Cup in Louisville, Kentucky, junior Noah Newfeld paced the Bears on both rings (12.850) and horizontal bar (13.150), while senior Noah Sano posted a solid 13.800 on parallel bars to lead the squad. Freshman Theodor Gadderud topped Cal's lineup on floor for the second straight week with his score of 13.600.
 
Sophomore Tyler Shimizu competed in five events for the first time in his collegiate career, posting his highest score (13.550) on floor and reaching a new personal best of 12.750 on horizontal bar (.700 points higher than his previous career mark).
 
The Bears will compete next Saturday back at Haas Pavilion, where they welcome Army and William & Mary to Berkeley. The first rotations are scheduled for 2 p.m. PT.
 
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