The California women's gymnastics team earned a No. 3 ranking in the preseason Atlantic Coast Conference Coaches Poll, announced Thursday morning by the conference. A trio of Golden Bears were also named to watch lists, with Sage Melkonian and Annalise Newman-Achee getting ACC Preseason Watch List nods and Tonya Paulsson being named to the ACC Newcomer Watch List.
 
Cal enters year two as members of the ACC as the conference's reigning regular-season champions. In its inaugural season in 2025, the Bears posted a perfect 6-0 conference mark and saw Mya Lauzon tabbed ACC Gymnast of the Year, the first gymnast in Cal history to receive the conference's top individual honor. Cal gymnasts won nine of the 11 ACC Gymnast of the Week Awards, six of which were claimed by Lauzon, and all four of the Bears' all-arounders won the award at least once. Cal tallied 13 All-ACC honors and four ACC individual event titles in addition to placing second at the ACC Championships to tie its highest finish in a conference championship in program history.
 
Newman-Achee, a junior from Brooklyn, N.Y., made her collegiate debut last season swinging uneven bars and broke her way into the Bears' everyday rotation. She competed 11 uneven bars routines and had two podium finishes. Ten of her routines scored a 9.825 or better, including a career-high 9.95 at the 2025 ACC Championships to clinch an All-Championship team recognition.
 
Melkonian, a sophomore from Mission Viejo, looks to make her collegiate competition debut in the 2026 season. She competed a handful of exhibition routines as a freshman last year and was named a WCGA Scholastic All-American for her excellent work in the classroom. Prior to Cal, Melkonian was a two-time national qualifier (2022 & 2023).
 
Paulsson, a freshman from Malmo, Sweden, will also look to make her collegiate debut this season for the Bears. She has been a member of the Swedish National Team since 2019 and won the Sweden all-around championship in back-to-back seasons in 2019 and 2020, in addition to balance beam and floor exercise titles and a silver medal on uneven bars in 2020. Paulsson is a two-time European all-around finalist (2021 & 2023) and helped lead Team Sweden to the European Championship final in 2023. In 2024, she had a gold-medal performance on balance beam and floor exercise and a silver-medal performance on uneven bars at the World Challenge Cup of Szombathely.
 
Cal will begin its season at the Washington Quad Meet on Jan. 3 in Seattle. The Bears will compete in their ACC opener on Jan. 18 at Pitt before hosting their home opener versus NC State on Jan. 24 in Haas Pavilion. Season tickets are on sale, in addition to single-meet tickets for all home events.
 
2026 ACC Gymnastics Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Stanford (34)
2. Clemson (25)
3. California (24)
4. North Carolina (20)
5. NC State (17)
6. Pitt (9)
 
2026 Preseason Watchlist
Sage Melkonian, Cal
Annalise Newman-Achee, Cal
Ella Cesario, Clemson
Brie Clark, Clemson
Kaya Forbes, UNC
Gwen Fink, UNC
Ashley Knight, NC State
Synya Thomas, NC State
Jaime Pratt, Pitt
Hallie Cooperwheat, Pitt
Anna Roberts, Stanford
Sienna Robinson, Stanford
 
2026 Newcomer Watch List
Tonya Paulsson, Cal
Emma Malewski, Clemson
Sydney Seabrooks, UNC
Autumn Rardin, NC State
Layla Bobek, Pitt
Ana Barbosu, Stanford