BERKELEY – The California women's gymnastics team has added another pair of freshmen to its incoming class. Sage Melkonian and Briana Taurek, club teammates at South Coast Gymnastics, will join the Golden Bears in the upcoming fall semester ahead of the 2025 season.
 
Melkonian comes to Cal from San Juan Capistrano where she has been a level 10 competitor for South Coast Gymnastics the past five years. She tied for third place in the all-around in her session at the 2022 Region 1 Championships and has achieved a score of 38.000+ on three occasions in her junior career. No stranger to the big stage, Melkonian qualified for the DP National Championships in 2022 and 2023 and was an alternate in 2024.
 
The Southern California native also excels in the classroom, being named to the honor roll all four years with a grade-point average above a 4.0 at San Juan Hills High School. She has received multiple academic and leadership awards including an academic distinction award, a National Honor Society award, and was recognized for completing the College and Career Advantage Pathway in public safety. Melkonian's great-grandparents Earl Hoisington Jr. ('29) and Virginia Slabaugh ('29) are both Cal alumni.
 
"We have had the pleasure of working with Sage at our camps from the time she was a young girl," co-head coach Justin Howell said. "Her passion for gymnastics, life and Cal are contagious and we can't wait to watch her light up the stage in Haas Pavilion."
 
Taurek hails from Santa Ana and has been a level 10 competitor since 2022 with South Coast Gymnastics. She qualified for the DP National Championships for the first time this past season and had a strong showing on vault, finishing tied for 21^st. She has also been an exceptional student at Foothills High School, where she has been on the honor roll all four years.
 
Taurek's mother, Trishna, was a diver for UC Irvine and her brothers Ryan and Aiden both played baseball for Saint Mary's. She will be the third member of her immediate family to receive a UC education, as her father is a UCSB alumnus.
 
"Briana is a phenomenal student and a very powerful athlete," Howell said. "She has an incredible passion for Cal and getting one day better. We can't wait to welcome her to Berkeley."
 
The pair will join fellow incoming freshmen Ondine Achampong, CJ Keuneke and Mya Wiley.