Newfeld Wins Third CGA Rookie Of The Week Honor

BERKELEY - For the third time this season, California true freshman men's gymnast Noah Newfeld has been named College Gymnastics Association's Rookie of the Week, garnering the honor once again on Tuesday, as announced by the organization.

It was also Cal's fifth CGA weekly award this season after Will Lavanakul earned Specialist of the Week honors on Feb. 23 and Yu-Chen Lee was tabbed MPSF Gymnast of the Week on Feb. 9. 

In last Saturday's victory over Air Force, a win in which Cal set its season-high team total of 389.700, Newfeld secured three personal bests - 13.550 on parallel bars, 13.400 on pommel horse and a 13.200 on high bar. His 13.550 mark on p-bars was his highest mark of the season, while his high bar score helped Cal earn a season-best 64.000 in the event. 

A native of Plano, Texas, Newfeld has been one of Cal's two all-arounders this season with Kyle Abe. It's another indication of how much head coach JT Okada and the Bears count on Newfeld despite his youth and working through a challenging season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I'm super proud of him, and he is completely deserving of this honor again," Okada said. "He's made a great case now for Rookie of the Year. He came in, like a lot of our guys, having to quarantine and lose a few weeks of training. We started with some minimal routines for him, and not only has he been able to get back to his full capacity, he's improved and learned more gymnastics and upgraded some routines since being here. In your first year, it's typically, 'Can you do what you did in your recruiting video?' Then you upgrade from there, but he's come in and did what he did in previous years and surpassed that already."

Newfeld previously earned national recognition on Feb. 23 and March 2. 

No. 11 Cal hosts No. 1 Oklahoma Saturday, March 20, at 3 p.m. from Haas Pavilion. Due to local health guidelines, fans are not allowed to attend home events.