The Bears are coming off a commanding season-opening win over Air Force as they won 195.75 to 188.95 in the season opener. The Bears will now begin Pac-12 play, as the matchup vs. Arizona will be the first of seven straight meets against Pac-12 competition.
Kyana George won four events in the season opener, claiming event wins on the vault, beam and floor and claiming the all-around crown. George now has 31 event wins and 74 top-three finishes in her four-year career.
Milan Clausi and Nevaeh DeSouza were also important contributors for the Bears as Clausi finished in the top-three in three different events, hitting at least a 9.80 on all three events. DeSouza claimed four top-three finishes including a second-place finish in the all-around.
Back in action: Cal women’s gymnastics handily dispatches Air Force
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In Haas Pavilion, cardboard cutouts stand in place of an electrified crowd. Smiles are covered with bedazzled masks, and opposing teams keep their distance. However, adapting to the crowdless arena, the No. 8 Bears acted as their own fans, drowning out the deafening silence with cheers.
While elbow taps and magic fingers replaced hugs and high-fives, the Bears’ high-energy performance delivered a decisive victory over the Falcons. After 335 days without competition, the blue and gold dominated by a score of 195.75-188.95.
The Bears demonstrated consistency across the board by sweeping the meet’s all-around titles. Senior Kyana George claimed the all-around crown, leading the competition with a commanding 39.375, followed by sophomore Nevaeh DeSouza, who earned a score of 39.250, and senior Nina Schank, who scored a 38.925.
Cal women’s gymnastics returns to competition, set to battle Air Force
Karen Chow/File
Since last season’s abrupt ending, Cal’s women’s gymnastics team has patiently awaited its return to competition. While other NCAA teams have been competing since early January, the blue and gold have not participated in an official contest for 319 days.
On Saturday, Cal’s patience will finally be rewarded. After nearly a yearlong competition hiatus, the women’s gymnastics team is scheduled to duel Air Force in its first and only nonconference meet.
The Bears will return to competition as a force to be reckoned with: They are currently ranked No. 8 nationally, a program record. Last season, the team broke into the top-15 ranking for every event and earned eight all-conference honors. Every member of this record-shattering team is slated to return, with the exception of two graduating seniors. This includes veteran All-Americans Maya Bordas (All-Around, Uneven Bars) and Kyana Geo
The Cal women’s gymnastics program faces pressures that few could understand. After flirting with perfection last season, it is burdened by its own success. In order to top last year’s performance, the program must make history (again).
Fortunately for the Bears, they seem equipped to do just that. For a second consecutive year, the team has been ranked eighth overall in the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association preseason poll, tying the all-time program record.
A high preseason ranking is nothing new for Cal. Throughout the past 5 years, the team has been ranked in the preseason top 10 on four occasions. Furthermore, the ranking proves that the blue and gold is a serious contender in the Pac-12 conference title race. Alongside No. 4 Utah and No. 7 UCLA, Cal is one of three teams in the conference to crack the top 10.
This year was a rough one for college sports, to say the very least. The idea that some senior athletes devoted their entire college careers to a sport that was canceled only partway through the season is devastating, and the on-again, off-again startup of fall sports took fans on an emotional roller coaster they did not deserve
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In the chaos that was the constantly changing Pac-12 guidelines for when to resume play, there were a few glimmers of hope including one especially bright glimmer, but I’ll get to that later. Here’s a recap of what Cal sports in 2020 looked like, starting with an era that feels so very far away but wasn’t actually that long ago.