Cal Heads To NCAA Regionals

BERKELEY – The ninth-ranked California women's gymnastics will begin their journey to the NCAA Championship on Thursday, March 31 with the NCAA Regional Semifinal. The Bears will take on No. 8 Minnesota, No. 24 Boise State and No. 25 Utah State with the top two teams advancing to the Regional Final to be competed on Saturday, April 2.
 
Thursday's competition will be at 11 a.m. PT/1 p.m. CT while Saturday's meet will take place at 3 p.m. PT/5 p.m. CT. Both meets will take place at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma. If the Bears advance to the Regional Final, they will take on the top two teams from the other semifinal featuring No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 16 Arizona State, No. 18 Arkansas, No. 31 West Virginia and No. 32 Arizona. 
 
This will be the 10th consecutive NCAA Regional has qualified for and the 26th overall appearance for the Bears at a Regional. This is the seventh-straight season that Cal has been in the top 16 of the NQS and the third straight year that the Bears have posted a NQS above 197.00.
 
Cal comes into the meet after the best Pac-12 Championship performance in school history. The Bears recorded a 197.425 and took second place, their best score and tied for the best finish at the Pac-12 Championship. Andi Li and Maddie Williams earned second-place medals on uneven bars while Grace Quinn took third on floor with her seventh 9.925+ score on floor this year. The Bears scored a season-best 197.900 in the regular season finale, the second-best team score in school history that saw the Bears set a program record on floor at 49.600.
 
FOLLOW THE ACTION FROM AFAR:
The action from the NCAA Regional in Norman, Oklahoma will be broadcast on ESPN+. Live results will be available on CalBears.com.
 
SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE
Cal has qualified for the NCAA Regionals for the 10th straight year (including 2020 when Cal was a lock for a seeded position). The Bears have finished in the top 16 of the NQS for seven straight years and have posted a NQS over 197.000 for three straight years. This year, they posted their second-highest NQS score at 197.330.
 
PAC-12 PROMINENCE
The Bears recorded their best-ever team score at the Pac-12 Championship as they tallied a 197.425. That mark was also the sixth-best score of Conference Championship weekend. Andi Li and Maddie Williams took second place on the uneven bars with 9.925 scores and Grace Quinn was third on floor with a 9.925. This came after Cal claimed a share of the Pac-12 Regular Season Championship for the first time in school history.
 
TERRIFIC '22
This year, Cal has recorded three of the top-10 team scores in school history, including the second best at 197.900. The Bears have also notched eight event scores on the top-10 list. 41 of Cal's 44 rotations this year have been at 49.00 or higher and Cal has seen 36 individual scores at 9.925 or higher. Additionally, Cal is one of two schools in the country with three gymnasts ranked in the top 25 of the all-around: Andi Li (18th), Nevaeh DeSouza (21st) and Maya Bordas (22nd).
 
ALL-PAC-12 PERFORMERS
The Bears had five student-athletes earn eight honors as All-Pac-12 performers. That is tied for the most honorees and the second-most honors in school history. Andi Li led the way with three honors (First Team All-Around & Bars, HM Floor). Maya Bordas earned two (HM All-Around & Bars). Grace Quinn (Floor) and Nevaeh DeSouza (All-Around) both earned one first team honor while Maddie Williams was named honorable mention on bars.
 
RESETTING RECORD BOOKS
In their home finale vs. Iowa, Cal recorded a 197.900 score, the second-highest team total in school history. The Bears did that by setting a program record on floor at 49.600. They received four 9.90+ floor scores on the day, all from seniors in their last home meet. Cal also recorded the second-best bars score in school history with 49.625 as four Bears went 9.925+. If that wasn't enough, Cal had the fourth-best beam score in school history at 49.450, which was just .050 from the school record.
 
PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP
Cal won the first six meets of the year and started 5-0 in Pac-12 meets. After defeating No. 3 Utah, the Bears put themselves in a position to claim a share of the Pac-12 Regular Season Championship. The win was Cal's first ever Pac-12 title (regular season or at the championship). Cal will share the regular season honors with Utah, Arizona State and Oregon State.
 
BORDAS UP FOR AAI AWARD
After winning the NCAA Championship on uneven bars last year, Bordas has been named an AAI Award Nominee. The senior is an All-American and has been very active on Cal's campus. She has a job lined up with Deloitte after graduating from Cal this spring. In the gym, she has 12 event wins this year and 22 top-three finishes.
 
ANDI'S ALTITUDE
Andi Li has had a standout sophomore season, claiming nine event wins, more than the six wins she had during the entirety of her freshman campaign. She has also scored a 9.90 or above 18 times so far this season as she has recorded 24 top-three finishes. She is ranked in the uneven bars (11th), floor exercise (38th) and the all-around (18th) and was named WCGA regular season second-team All-American on bars.
 
STAY POSTED
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