NORMAN, OKLA. – One month into its season, California men's gymnastics put together the breakout performance that it had been looking for, overtaking the 400-point barrier for the first time in nearly two years as the Golden Bears faced No. 1 Oklahoma in the Sooner State. Cal's team score of 400.800 smashed its previous season high of 396.300 and earned the No. 10 spot on the program's top-10 list, while the host squad finished the day at 417.800.
 
"This week, we placed a significant emphasis on refining our floor and pommel horse lineups," said senior Noah Sano. "I believe this adjustment helped us get into a better rhythm earlier in the meet, and that contributed to some of our best hits."
 
Sophomore Tyler Shimizu started off hot with his first PR of three, a 14.200 on floor that tied him for second place; he would later follow up with a 13.750 on pommel horse and a 13.250 on high bar. Senior Noah Newfeld, who is slated to compete in the USA Gymnastics Winter Cup in two weeks' time, shattered his personal best on pommel horse with a 14.250 to move him up to a tie for fourth in modern program history. He took third place in both that event and on parallel bars, where he scored a 14.100.
 
Despite Newfeld's standout score, Cal's high score on the pommel horse belonged to senior Aidan Li, whose 14.300 was the third-best score in modern program history and earned him second place in the competition. Cal's highest vault score went to junior Jasper Smith-Gordon for the second week in a row, matching the third-best mark on the Bears' modern top-10 list at a second-place 14.700. Finally, senior Noah Sano posted the last (and arguably the most impressive) of Cal's individual top 10s, improving his parallel bars PR by half a point to 14.500 to win the event title and tie for the third-best score on the program list.
 
Both Cal's pommel horse score (67.050) and parallel bars score (68.050) earned a spot on the modern program top-10 lists as well, with the former coming in at No. 3 and the latter at No. 5.
 
Two freshmen – Brendan Strom and Jaxon Mitchell – also posted new personal bests in the competition, with Strom scoring 13.600 on floor and Mitchell earning a 13.400 on high bar.
 
 
Team Score: 400.800 (Cal Top 10)
 
Floor: 67.700
Tyler Shimizu – 14.200 (PR – Tied-2nd Place)
Brendan Strom – 13.600 (PR)
Noah Newfeld – 13.650
Theodor Roald Gadderud – 12.800
Khalen Curry – 13.450
 
Pommel Horse: 67.050 (Cal Top 3)
Darren Wong – 12.200
Tyler Shimizu – 13.750 (PR)
Noah Newfeld – 14.250 (PR – Tied-Cal Top 4 – 3rd Place)
Noah Sano – 12.550
Aidan Li – 14.300 (Cal Top 3 – 2nd Place)
 
Rings: 64.550
Darren Wong – 13.400
Sean Shimizu – 11.550
Noah Newfeld – 13.100
Noah Sano – 13.100
Chris Scales – 13.400
 
Vault: 68.750
Yu-Chen Lee – 13.350
Theodor Roald Gadderud – 13.100
Jelani Sweet – 13.150
Jasper Smith-Gordon – 14.700 (Tied-Cal Top 3 – 2nd Place)
Khalen Curry – 14.450
 
Parallel Bars: 68.050 (Cal Top 5)
Brendan Strom – 13.100
Theodor Roald Gadderud – 13.800
Noah Newfeld – 14.100 (3rd Place)
Noah Sano – 14.500 (PR – Cal Top 3 – Winner)
Darren Wong – 12.550
 
Horizontal Bar: 64.700
Tyler Shimizu – 13.250 (PR)
Theodor Roald Gadderud – 13.450
Jaxon Mitchell – 13.400 (PR)
Noah Newfeld – 12.150
Darren Wong – 12.450
 
UP NEXT
Cal returns to Berkeley next weekend for its lone virtual meet of the season on Sunday, Feb. 18. Both the Bears and William & Mary will be broadcasting from their home gyms at noon PT.
 
STAY POSTED
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