Bears Send Seven Qualifiers To NCAA Finals
NORMAN, OKLA. – California men's gymnastics closed out their season as a team on Friday afternoon, finishing fifth in Section I of the NCAA Championships Qualifying Round after scoring 394.824 points at the University of Oklahoma's Lloyd Noble Center. Although they did not advance to Saturday's finals, which would have required them to place in the top three teams, the Golden Bears sent seven individuals onward for a shot at the podium in their respective events.
Noah Newfeld continued his stellar career with a qualifying third-place finish of 78.331 in the all-around, pacing the Bears on the parallel bars with a team-high 13.466 and adding a 13.300 on the floor exercise. Two Bears – Will Lavanakul and Tyler Shimizu – moved on to the pommel horse finals after posting scores of 13.933 (2nd place) and 13.500 (T9th place), respectively; the latter shattered Shimizu's former personal best by .550.
Collin Cunane set his own PR on the floor exercise, posting a score of 13.800 to reach the finals, while Landon Wu opened the entire competition by scoring 13.366 on the still rings to advance him to Day Two. Finally, Caleb Rickard (14.066 on vault) and Yu-Chen Lee (13.266 on parallel bars) rounded out the qualifiers for Cal.
David Rauchwerger set a new personal best on floor with his 13.366, while Tyler Shimizu set his second PR of the night with a 13.200 on rings. Other high scores for Cal included Jelani Sweet's 13.900 on vault, as well as Caleb Rickard's 13.366 and Collin Cunane's 13.233 on high bar. Yu-Chen Lee also contributed a 13.566 on floor.
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Cal's seven qualifiers will begin competition at the final round of the NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships at 4:00 p.m. PT.
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