Cal Heads To Stanford For Early Season Rematch

BERKELEY – The 10th-ranked California women's gymnastics team will take on rivals Stanford for the second time in the first four meets of the season. The Bears and Cardinal met up in the season opener as the Bears won 196.325-196.275 at Haas Pavilion. The top-20 rematch is set for Friday evening at 7 p.m. at Stanford's Maples Pavilion.
 
The first meet of the year came down to the final routine as Maya Bordas landed a floor routine, that after a score correction gave the Bears a .050 margin of victory. Cal has improved their scores in every meet, and have recorded the best first meet score, best second meet score and best third meet score in school history this season. They even broke the 197 barrier in their most recent contest, when Cal tallied a 197.350, the 11th-best score in school history, in defeating No. 14 Oregon State at home.
 
Emi Watterson returned to the lineup, winning the beam competition with a 9.925 score against Oregon State. She was honored with the Pac-12 Coaches Choice Award for her efforts to come back amidst difficult personal circumstances. Freshman Madelyn Williams continued her ascent as she scored a 9.925 to tie with veteran Nina Schank for second place on bars. Williams now ranks 15th in the nation in bars after three competitions.
 
Cal ranks fourth in the country on uneven bars, while also boasting top 20 rankings on vault (12th), floor (12th) and beam (20th). There are 11 instances of Bears on the top 50 of the event charts after three meets.
 
FOLLOW THE ACTION FROM AFAR:
The Friday night contest will be on Pac-12 Bay Area with Brian Webber and JaNay Honest on the call. Live results will be available on CalBears.com.
 
SETTING A NEW STANDARD
The Bears broke a program record for the best start to the season with a 196.325 score in the win over Stanford. Cal didn't better that score until the third meet (Feb. 14) of the 2021 season. The previous best season-opening score came in 2020. Cal has continued improving in every meet, tallying the best second-meet and third-meet scores in school history this year. In the win over OSU, the Bears tallied a 197.350, which is the 11th-best team score in school history, along with the 10th-best bars score in school history at 49.475.
 
WATTERSON WINS COACHES CHOICE
Watterson was named Pac-12 Coaches Choice Award Winner on Feb. 1st, after competing in her first meet of the 2022 season against Oregon State. She recorded a 9.925 score on beam and tied for the win after only five days of practice. Watterson had left the team after her father suddenly passed away on December 19. She returned to Australia to be with her family and attend his funeral. Due to COVID restrictions, Watterson spent nearly a month away with minimal practice time. After she landed her routine the Cal team swarmed her for an emotional Bear hug. 
 
RETURNING GREATNESS
The Bears had a record-breaking season in 2021 that saw the team post six of the top ten total team scores in program history, and tie an NCAA record on uneven bars. Kyana George, Nina Schank and Emi Watterson all elected to come back for a fifth season, meaning Cal will sport 23 of the 24 routines that competed at the NCAA Championships. The Bears return uneven bars NCAA Champion Maya Bordas as well as AAI Award Finalist and Pac-12 Champion Kyana George. Neveah DeSouza was a three-time All-American while Andi Li and Nina Schank were both All-Americans on the uneven bars. 

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