BERKELEY – The 2024 California men's gymnastics squad looks to be both bigger and better this season with an overall increase in depth and several new faces looking to crack the lineup. Under the leadership of head coach J.T. Okada, associate head coach Bryan Del Castillo and first-year assistant coach Karl Ziehn, as well as team captains (and 2023 NCAA finalists) Noah Sano and Noah Newfeld, the No. 10 Golden Bears hope to utilize their abundance of veteran experience, combined with an influx of young talent, to make a splash on the national stage.
 
This year, the Bears will field three graduate seniors in Sano, Darren Wong and Yu-Chen Lee. Wong returns for his sixth year following major injuries in three consecutive seasons, hoping to build back to the level of his early college career that saw him set eight program top 10s (including two current school records). Sano, who will focus on pommel horse, parallel bars and still rings, looks to improve upon a stellar 2023 campaign that saw him earn All-MPSF honors, in addition to winning an MPSF Specialist of the Week nod for his performance in the season opener. Lee's experience and leadership as a two-time NCAA finalist and four-time weekly award winner rounds out the group.
 
The Bears will return each of their MPSF and CGA award-winners from 2023; in addition to Sano, that list includes junior Jasper Smith-Gordon, who earned Regular-Season All-America honors as well as three weekly awards after breaking the program's vault record, and sophomore Theodor Roald Gadderud, a two-time MPSF Freshman of the Week, who is set to act as one of Cal's premier all-arounders this season. Two other NCAA finalists – Aidan Li (pommel horse) and Chris Scales (rings) – will return for their senior seasons; Li's name appears five times on the program top-10 pommel list, with his highest score at No. 2. NCAA all-around finalist Tyler Shimizu, who competed in the U.S. Championships over the summer, will provide a strong presence in the floor, pommel and vault lineups for his junior season.
 
In total, Cal will have a berth of both seniors and freshmen competing in the Blue & Gold, with 10 individuals in the former category and six in the latter. Each of the newcomers – Ari Bekker, Carter Kim, Harry Kim, Jaxon Mitchell, Brendan Strom and Tucker Yasunaga – brings high-level routines and dedication to the team. Both Strom and Yasunaga recently competed at the Core Hydration Classic over the summer; each of the other four also has shown the skill in practice to potentially contribute sooner rather than later in at least one event.
 
"The freshmen have come in very prepared – more so than I've seen in a while," Okada said. "We're going to be an exciting and dangerous squad, and we're making a lot of upgrades."
 
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