Cal Records Comprehensive Victory Over Washington
SEATTLE – The 11th-ranked California women's gymnastics team scored a comprehensive victory over Washington, 196.675-195.450, on Saturday afternoon at Alaska Airlines Arena.
Cal claimed individual titles on vault, bars and all-around while improving on their score from the season opener, where the Bears tallied a 196.325. It was also an improvement on Cal's second meet of last season, when the Bears scored 196.075.
"If I go off of feeling instead of score, I feel like we performed well," co-head coach Justin Howell said. "Warmups weren't perfect, but people did a good job of putting that to the side and going out and competing. We didn't count a fall, which is an improvement on last week. It was great to have our first meet on the road, first meet in a hotel. Those are all things we need to get used to throughout the year and I thought we handled it well."
Cal opened the meet on bars and saw phenomenal routines from All-American Andi Li and reigning NCAA Champion Maya Bordas. Li won the event with a 9.925 score, while Bordas tied for second place with a 9.90 mark. Freshman Madelyn Williams tied her mark from the season opener as she took fourth place with a 9.87 mark.
On vault, there was a four-way tie for first place, which included three Bears as Bordas, Milan Clausi and Nina Schank tied with Washington's Amara Cunningham at 9.85. In her first collegiate vault, Williams recorded a 9.80.
The Bears moved to floor on the third rotation, where Andi Li completed a beautiful routine to score a 9.90 and take second place. Mya Lauzon scored a 9.825 in the return to her home state. The freshman is from nearby Kent, Washington and she completed her first all-around for the Bears.
"You never know how a freshman will respond to different environments," Howell said. "Mya came home and was around friends and family, sometimes that can hurt, but she responded really well. She's a phenomenal athlete and a great competitor when she puts it all together she's going to turn a lot of heads."
Bordas took second place on the beam competition as she recorded a 9.875 score. Cal's freshman duo of Lauzon and Williams tied for third place as they both recorded 9.825 marks.
"The judging on beam was very tight," Howell said. "We thought we landed some really good routines, but they didn't see it the same way we did."
Bordas won the all-around competition as she notched a 39.425 score, while Li took third place with a 39.325 mark.
"Heading into this week we had another full week of training with our team," Howell said. "That was huge. You can see people improving every day. We'll have another full week before next weekend's meet vs. Oregon State. We're headed in the right direction and we'll be in an even better place next weekend than we were today."
The Bears will be back in action next weekend as they host Olympic Gold Medalist Jade Carey and the Oregon State Beavers at Haas Pavilion. The meet will begin at 4 p.m. on Saturday, January 29.
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