PITTSBURGH – The California women's gymnastics program checks in at No. 20 in the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Preseason Poll, announced by the organization Tuesday afternoon. This is first-year head coach Geralen Stack-Eaton's inaugural top-20 ranking as head of a program.
 
The Golden Bears earned 880 points in the national preseason poll and are the third-ranked Atlantic Coast Conference team. Five of the ACC's six women's gymnastics programs are ranked in the poll as part of the nation's top 36 teams heading into the 2026 season. Cal is set to face 12 of the 36 ranked teams this season, including three top-10 programs: No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 Michigan State and No. 9 Kentucky.
 
Cal looks to come off a strong 2025 season in which the Bears claimed the ACC regular-season championship title, a record-high nine ACC Gymnast of the Week honors, 13 All-ACC honors and a pair of WCGA All-American selections in recently-named assistant coach Mya Lauzon and 2025 graduate Maddie Williams. Nine Bears also notched WCGA Scholastic All-America honors at the conclusion of the 2025 campaign, including 2026 returners Miki Aderinto, Casey Brown, CJ Keuneke, Brandi Kikuno, Sage Melkonian, Jayden Silvers and Brianna Taurek.
 
The Bears will begin their season at the Washington Quad Meet on Jan. 3 in Seattle against the No. 34 Huskies, No. 4 UCLA and No 17 Oregon State. Cal will compete in its ACC opener on Jan. 18 at Pitt before hosting its home opener versus No. 23 NC State on Jan. 24 in Haas Pavilion. Season tickets are on sale, in addition to single-meet tickets for all home events.
 
2026 WCGA Preseason Poll
1. Oklahoma (1960 points) (39 first place votes)
2. LSU (1859 points) (5 first place votes)
3. Florida (1804 points) (4 first place votes)
4. UCLA (1784 points) (4 first place votes)
5. Utah (1751 points) (1 first place vote)
6. Michigan State (1683 points)
7. Missouri (1589 points)
8. Alabama (1518 points)
9. Kentucky (1434 points)
10. Arkansas (1433 points)
11. Auburn (1367 points)
12. Georgia (1332 points)
13. Stanford (1256 points)
14. Michigan (1200 points)
15. Minnesota (1199 points)
16. Denver (1132 points)
17. Oregon State (1004 points)
18. Arizona (990 points)
19. Clemson (985 points)
20. California (880 points)
21. Ohio State (871 points)
22. Iowa (779 points)
23. NC State (739 points)
24. North Carolina (634 points)
25. Arizona State (627 points)
26. Penn State (627 points)
27. Nebraska (598 points)
28. Maryland (567 points)
29. Southern Utah (532 points)
30. BYU (443 points)
31. Illinois (429 points)
32. Boise State (354 points)
33. Utah State (248 points)
34. Washington (240 points)
35. West Virginia (145 points)
36. Rutgers (131 points)
 Also receiving votes: Iowa State (120 points), Towson (94 points), Pittsburgh (63 points), UC Davis (61 points), Central Michigan (36 points), George Washington (36 points), San Jose State (32 points), Ball State (31 points), Kent State (29 points), Temple (11 points), Western Michigan (9 points), Pennsylvania (8 points), New Hampshire (7 points), Illinois State (5 points), Sacramento State (4 points), Texas Woman's (3 points), Air Force (1 point), Fisk (1 point)
 
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