No. 10 Cal Sets Season High Team Score
BERKELEY - On three days rest, the No. 10 California men's gymnastics team set a season-high team score and topped Springfield College, 387.200-369.950, Wednesday morning in a virtual meet from Golden Bear Rec. The Golden Bears improved to 3-1 on the year, as well.
"I'm really proud of them," head coach JT Okada said. "The team feels fatigued after just competing last Saturday. There was a feeling and mentality that it's going to be a rough meet, so I asked them to just focus on the things we can control because you just put your head down and get to work, and then before you know it, you post a season-high score."
For the second consecutive meet, Yu-Chen Lee led the way for the Bears, pacing his squad in three of the six events. Lee has been Cal's top scorer on floor in every meet in 2021, and against Springfield, he notched a season-best 14.000 in the opening rotation. He also led Cal on rings (13.200) and parallel bars (13.800). His rings score was a personal best and his parallel bars score marked his second straight season-high performance.
"He's shown his consistency and his mindset," Okada said about Lee. "I feel very good about him. After the meet, he did a pommel horse routine because he wants an all-around score. He did that after the meet, something you don't normally see. He's such a hard worker and he really wants to help our team, and he really is."
Will Lavanakul posted a career-best 14.250 on pommel horse. The mark currently ranks third in the nation and is the second-best score in school history. Lavankul also added a personal best on parallel bars (12.600).
Caleb Rickard earned Cal's second-highest score of the meet with his 14.200 on vault. He's been Cal's top gymnast on vault all season.
Noah Newfeld competed in the all-around and set a career-high score of 77.900. He garnered personal bests on pommel horse (13.350) and parallel bars (13.300).
"That's a great score for him," Okada said. "He's a rock star. He's showing that he can be relied upon. I need to find a way to rest him a little bit for the second half of the season now."
In addition to the overall team score being a season high, Cal earned event team season-high marks on pommel horse (64.700) and parallel bars (64.850).
Collin Cunane set a personal best for the second straight week on pommel horse (12.050). Cunane's top score of the day came on vault - his debut in the event - with a mark of 13.300.
The Bears will have seven days off before facing No. 11 William & Mary on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 11 am from Golden Bear Rec. Due to currently local health guidelines, fans will not be allowed to attend the meet in person. The virtual meet will be live streamed at https://virti.us/start