STATE COLLEGE, PENN. – California men's gymnastics posted its second-highest score of the season at Section II of the NCAA Championships Qualifier on Friday night, combining to finish at 395.055 in a solid season finale for the squad. Although they did not qualify as a team for tomorrow's NCAA Final, the Golden Bears posted a slew of new personal records and sent seven members onward to the next round, with each having recorded a top-three score of all non-automatic individual qualifiers.
 
Junior Noah Newfeld (79.531) and freshman Tyler Shimizu (77.797) qualified in the all-around, while freshman Theodor Gadderud clinched a spot on floor with his personal-best score of 13.866 and junior Chris Scales posted his own qualifying rings PR of 13.500. Senior Noah Sano also earned a qualifying berth on parallel bars with a team-leading 13.866.
 
It was the pommel horse lineup that once again dominated for Cal, as the group combined for a score of 66.731 – the third-highest in modern program history – with the help of junior Aidan Li's career-high score of 14.333. His effort qualified him for tomorrow's final and moved him up to No. 2 on the program's modern scoring list with his fifth entry in Cal's top-10 scores. Senior teammate Will Lavanakul, another frequent entry on that list, also reached the final with his score of 13.666.
 
In total, Cal recorded eight total personal bests, including four from Shimizu (floor – 13.966; vault – 13.333; parallel bars – 13.433; all-around) and an additional PR from Gadderud (vault – 14.400). Other 14-plus scores included junior David Rauchwerger's vault of 14.100 and freshman Khalen Curry's subsequent 14.066.
 
The Bears' final seven will resume competition tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. PT from Penn State's Rec Hall.
 
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