Cal Women's Gymnastics: Bears Beat Stanford, Claim First Outright Pac-12 Title
There remain a handful of significant competitions on the schedule for the Cal women’s gymnastics team, but the Golden Bears delivered a double dose of program history on Sunday.
The nation’s second-ranked team, Cal beat No. 22 Stanford 198.550-197.975 at Maples Pavilion to claim its first outright conference championship while also posting the highest team score in program annals.
"To win it outright is incredibly special," Cal co-head coach Justin Howell of the Bears completing the Pac-12 schedule with a 7-0 record. "We haven't really talked about it. We really just wanted to come in here and get better, and we did that."
The Bears will trek to West Valley City, Utah in two weeks for the Pac-12 championship meet and are hosting the NCAA regionals from April 3-7. The collegiate nationals are set for April 18 and 20 at Fort Worth, Texas.
But those mega-events won’t relegate Sunday to second-class status. This was something the Bears have aspired to achieved but never quite attained. Last year, for instance, they finished third nationally but managed to go only 4-1-2 in Pac-12 meets, tying Oregon State and UCLA and losing to Utah.
The Bears are 14-3 overall so far this season, two of those defeats coming to powerhouse Oklahoma, and they beat every conference opponent on the schedule.
Their team score eclipsed the previous record of 198.400, set two weeks ago at UCLA. Along the way Sunday, the Bears broke their own record on the floor exercise (49.750) and tied their mark on the balance beam (49.825).
Two weeks after setting a new team benchmark for all-around score with a 198.400 during a victory at UCLA, Cal bettered the mark even more by setting a program record on floor exercise (49.750) and tying its all-time standard on balance beam (49.825).
Creating this history required some special individual performances. Sophomore eMjae Frazier of Erial, N.J., tied her own record in the individual all-around with a score of 39.825.
Howell said work ethic is at the heart of things for Frazier, now ranked No. 2 in the country in the all-around event.
"What I love about eMjae is she shows up every single day bright-eyed and ready to work," said Howell said. "There has never been a day where she's not trying to get better. She's obviously a phenomenally talented athlete, but she couples that with great work ethic.”
Junior Mya Lauzon of Kent, Washington, recorded her second perfect 10 this season on balance beam on the way to an all-around mark of 39.775, which equaled her personal best and tied her with Frazier for second on Cal’s all-time list.
Other elite performances came from juniors Ella Cesario of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and Jordan Kane of Lincoln, R.I. Each scored 9.950 in floor exercise. Lauzon tied her best mark with a 9.975 in floor, and Cesario achieved a career-west of 39.650 in the all-around.
Cover photo of Cal's championship women's gymnastics team by Jeff Bartee
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo