BERKELEY – California men's gymnastics opened its season on Saturday night, hosting preseason No. 1 Stanford at Haas Pavilion for the Cal Benefit Cup. The Golden Bears combined for a score of 388.200 to Stanford's 413.800, but the night was not without its highlights as two Cal veterans set personal bests and three freshmen shone.
 
Junior Tyler Shimizu led the Bears on floor with a PR of 14.000, followed by rookie Carter Kim's debut of 13.450. Cal's experienced pommel horse squad, led by senior Aidan Li (13.150) as well as fellow upperclassmen Shimizu, Darren Wong, Noah Sano and Noah Newfeld, combined for a total of 64.200 to tie for the 10th-best score in modern program history; shortly afterwards, senior Chris Scales put his own stamp on the night with a personal-best 13.600 on rings.
 
Kim's star continued to rise with his vault routine, leading the Bears with a score of 14.000 in the fifth lineup spot. Both Sano and sophomore Theodor Roald Gadderud posted strong scores on parallel bars with a 13.900 and 13.500, respectively. The latter carried a heavy workload on the night, appearing in five of six rotations.
 
Cal's freshmen found their groove on high bar, the evening's final event. Jaxon Mitchell, who made his debut earlier on rings, finished his 12.900 routine with a stick, followed by Kim's own stick to cap off a score of 12.750. It was Tucker Yasunaga, looking to impress after also appearing on parallel bars, who completed the 1-2-3 rookie run by sticking his landing in quick succession and earning a squad-leading 13.000.
 
COMPLETE RESULTS – CAL
 
FLOOR – 65.350
Khalen Curry – 12.750
Jelani Sweet – 12.450
Tyler Shimizu – 14.000 (PR)
Carter Kim – 13.450
Theodor Roald Gadderud – 12.700
 
POMMEL HORSE – 64.200
Darren Wong – 12.800
Tyler Shimizu – 12.700
Noah Newfeld – 13.050
Noah Sano – 13.050
Aidan Li – 13.150
 
STILL RINGS – 62.650
Darren Wong – 12.950
Jaxon Mitchell – 12.100
Theodor Roald Gadderud – 12.800
Noah Sano – 11.200
Chris Scales – 13.600 (PR)
 
VAULT – 67.750
David Rauchwerger – 13.350
Khalen Curry – 13.450
Theodor Roald Gadderud – 13.150
Jelani Sweet – 13.800
Carter Kim – 14.000
 
PARALLEL BARS – 64.250
Chris Scales – 10.750
Tucker Yasunaga – 12.750
Theodor Roald Gadderud – 13.500
Noah Sano – 13.900
Noah Newfeld – 13.350
 
HORIZONTAL BAR – 63.450
Landon Wu – 12.100
Jaxon Mitchell – 12.900
Carter Kim – 12.750
Tucker Yasunaga – 13.000
Theodor Roald Gadderud – 12.700
 
UP NEXT
The Bears will take two weeks before heading south to The Farm for the Stanford Open on Saturday, Jan. 27. The first rotations are scheduled for 7 p.m. PT.
 
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