The California men's gymnastics team will conclude its season this weekend at the NCAA Championships, held this year in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at Michigan's Crisler Center on Friday (qualifying rounds) and Saturday (final). To advance to the final, teams must place within the top three in their respective qualifying sessions, while all-arounders and event specialists must score within the top three of all gymnasts not already qualifying with their teams. The No. 9 Golden Bears will be competing in Session I on Friday along with No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 5 Penn State, No. 8 Air Force and No. 12 William & Mary, with competition slated to begin at 10 a.m. PT.
 
"It's been a year of growth," Cal interim head coach Bryan Del Castillo said. "We've seen a lot of development in everybody. They've shown their resilience and ability to bounce back from adversity."
 
Saturday's final will be broadcast on ESPN2 at 3:30 p.m. PT, while ESPN+ will carry both qualifying sessions as well as individual event streams for both days.
 
Cal had its best performance of the season two weeks ago at the MPSF Championships, posting a team score of 315.450. Redshirt junior Jasper Smith-Gordon became the Bears' first MPSF champion since 2018 and its first conference vault champion since 1987 with a score of 14.250, while junior Theodor Roald Gadderud finished second in the all-around (77.950) and third on parallel bars (13.900). graduate student Aidan Li also took third place on pommel horse (14.400) to medal for the second straight year.
 
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ALL-MPSF HONORS
Five Cal gymnasts were named All-MPSF following the team's season-best performance at the MPSF Championships. Theodor Roald Gadderud, who won silver in the all-around and bronze on parallel bars, was named all-conference on rings, while Jasper Smith-Gordon became Cal's first conference champion since 2018 and its first vault champ since 1987. Aidan Li picked up his second All-MPSF honor after a third-place finish on pommel horse to round out the medalists. Freshman Matteo Bardana earned All-MPSF recognition on floor as the only rookie from any team in any event to receive the honor, while Carter Kim also picked up a nod on high bar.
 
REGULAR SEASON ALL-AMERICAN
For the first time in his career, Aidan Li earned Regular Season All-America recognition from the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) for his outstanding year on pommel horse. Li is the nation's sixth-ranked man in the event with a four-score average of 14.300 and a season-high score of 14.650. He is the third Cal gymnast to earn the honor, joining Jasper Smith-Gordon (2023-24, vault) and Noah Newfeld (2023, all-around).
 
OKADA STEPS DOWN, DEL CASTILLO TAKES OVER AS INTERIM HEAD COACH
Eighth-year head coach JT Okada, who was hired in May 2017 after spending the previous five seasons as an assistant coach on Cal's staff, coached his last meet for the Golden Bears on Feb. 28 before transferring to a role in Cal's compliance office. During his tenure, Okada was instrumental in the development of several national team members and nine All-Americans with 18 total honors, as well as three regular-season All-Americans and three Nissen-Emery Award finalists. He also coached in the 2016 Olympic Games, heading the South African National Team. In the classroom, Okada's athletes collected 62 CGA Academic All-American honors and 58 MPSF All-Academic nods. Third-year associate head coach Bryan Del Castillo, who joined the Bears as an assistant coach in 2020, is leading the team through the rest of the season as interim head coach.
 
OH, CANADA!
Fifth-year graduate student Aidan Li and freshman Matteo Bardana appeared at the 2025 Elite Canada meet in February, competing against some of the country's best gymnasts for national recognition. Li won his second major Canadian gold on pommel horse with the largest margin of victory in any individual senior event at the meet; meanwhile, Bardana was the top Senior Next Gen gymnast in the all-around as well as the floor, rings and high bar competitions, also taking silver in his age group on parallel bars. Li was subsequently named to the Canadian Senior National Team, while Bardana was selected to the Canadian Next Gen National Team.
 
ONE MORE YEAR
Graduate student Aidan Li, who majored in mechanical engineering, returned to the Bears for his fifth and final season in 2025. His Elite Canada pommel horse title is just one of his many athletic accolades this year: Li is the NCAA's fifth-ranked gymnast in the event and claimed at least a share of first place on horse in five separate meets this year, also earning CGA and MPSF Specialist of the Week after leading the nation in Week 4 and claiming bronze at the MPSF Championships. As a senior in 2024, he posted four of Cal's top-10 pommel horse scores in the previous scoring era. Following an all-conference nod for his second-place finish on horse at the MPSF Championships, he broke the program record in the NCAA Championships Qualifier and tied for sixth place in the final, earning Cal's first All-America honor since 2021 and the first on pommel horse since 2014. Two months later, he made an appearance at the Canadian Championships, winning the pommel horse title in his first national senior meet. He is just one of 35 athletes to be honored by the ACC with the 2025 Weaver-James-Corrigan-Swofford Postgraduate Scholarship Award.
 
NEW RULES
The NCAA has introduced several rule changes to the sport, effective in the 2025 season. Each team is only allowed to enter four athletes per lineup, down from the previous five, while only 12 total gymnasts (down from 15) are eligible to compete each week. Additionally, each routine now only needs to feature eight skills instead of 10.
 
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