California women's gymnastics freshman Tonya Paulsson has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference's Newcomer of the Week for the third time this season, after also earning the recognition after weeks one and five. This is the fifth weekly conference honor a Golden Bear has earned in 2026, with Annalise Newman-Achee taking ACC Gymnast of the Week following week one and Sage Melkonian earning ACC Co-Specialist of the Week after week six.
 
Paulsson recorded a personal-best 39.475 in the all-around at this past Saturday's Metroplex Challenge quad meet in Fort Worth, Texas. She tied with Newman-Achee for bronze in the category and was the only underclassman to reach the podium in the all-around. It was her fourth time medaling in the all-around in as many meets. She has never failed to reach the podium in the all-around since she began competing on all four events.
 
Paulsson's outing at the Metroplex Challenge was highlighted by her 9.900 floor routine as the Bears' anchor on the event. The score matched her career high on floor and was good for a share of third place.
 
She also anchored the Bears on uneven bars, notching a 9.875 with her stuck dismount. Paulsson has scored five bars routines that have received a 9.875 or higher this season, including her collegiate-best score of 9.950 on bars at the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad on Jan. 10. She currently ties for 13th in the nation and has the highest placement among all ACC gymnasts with a 9.890 NQS on uneven bars. 
 
Paulsson earned a pair of 9.850 scores for her balance beam and vault routines at the Metroplex Challenge. Her beam was a part of Cal's strong lineup that matched the program's season-high on the event with a 49.275. She helped the Bears take second place overall at the competition, in which they clinched an upset over No. 10 Stanford and defeated No. 42 Air Force.
 
Paulsson, a freshman from Malmo, Sweden, 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. She was named to the ACC's Preseason Newcomer Watchlist in December.
 
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