WGYM4/6/2019 6:09 PM | By: Cal Athletics
Cal Sets Program Record In NCAA Regional Final
Bears Set School Record Team Score But Finish Third To End Season
ATHENS, Ga. – California women's gymnastics shattered its school-record team total once again, scoring a 197.675 at the NCAA Athens Regional Final Saturday evening, but the Golden Bears' stunning efforts weren't enough to clinch a berth to the NCAA Championships.
The Bears finished in third place behind Oklahoma (198.475) and Georgia (198.050). The top two teams advance out of the Regional Final to the NCAA Championships. Cal took third over Kentucky, who earned a 197.600.
The evening was still full of bright spots, as
Milan Clausi punched her ticket to the NCAA Championships as an individual on vault, and Cal set all-time top-five event totals on vault, bars and beam, including a program-record 49.575 on vault. The Bears saw all 24 routines hit, and set or matched 11 career-high totals individually.
Kyana George finished with a career-best all-around total of 39.650, matching the third-highest all-around total in school history.
Cal raced out to its best uneven bars rotation of the year, matching the third-highest total in school history with a 49.375.
Maya Bordas led off with a career-high 9.85 and three other Bears in the lineup followed suit, with
Talitha Jones (9.85),
Kyana George (9.90) and
Rachael Mastrangelo (9.875) all adding career-best totals of their own. Clausi, vaulting in the No. 5 spot, added a second 9.90 to put the Bears at third place after the first rotation.
The Bears overtook the Bulldogs for second place with a program-record uneven bars rotation, putting up a 49.575 with help from three consecutive 9.95s at the back of the lineup. All three – from
Emi Watterson,
Alma Kuc and Bordas – were career-best totals.
The Bears paced only Oklahoma, 99.375-98.950, at the halfway point, with a slim lead over Georgia (98.925) and Kentucky (98.575).
Bordas' stellar start came to an end in during beam warmups after a missed landing, and the Bears were forced to make last-minute lineup adjustments. Still, Cal delivered another 6-for-6 set, with George and Keelen finishing up the rotation with career-best totals. George earned a 9.925, and Keelen anchored for the first time all season to score a career-best 9.95. Cal's 49.400 on beam was both its third-best beam total of the season and in program history.
Georgia overtook Cal after the third rotation, leading 148.500-148.350, as the Bears headed to beam looking to regain its top two position.
With a 49.550 beam rotation by Georgia, Cal fell just short despite its second-highest floor total of the season, a 49.325.
Sofie Seilnacht ended her Cal career with a 9.90, second only to George's career-best 9.95.
Clausi will advance as an individual to the NCAA Championships, which begin April 19 at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas.