No.3 Cal Women's Gymnastics in NCAA Semifinal, seeking program's first Final

Time for this talented California Golden Bears squad to perform on national TV (ESPN2 at 1:30 PM PT)!

For a team making program history all season long, Thursday represents the opportunity for Cal Women’s Gymnastics to make the most significant step in program history. And if all goes normal, Cal will have the chance to do something even more special on Saturday.

Although the easy first impression of this Cal team, beyond the great athleticism and artistry displayed on the mats, is one of a bunch of young women smiling and dancing on the sidelines in support of one another, this is a group of driven student-athletes with the clear goal of getting better to seize this redemptive moment. Almost the entire 2024 team was here last year; even the most significant graduated senior, Naveah Desouza, is still a part of this current team as an assistant coach. They all experienced the heartbreak of two uncharacteristic uneven bars mistakes on the third rotation that prematurely ended the season at the NCAA Semifinal.

To be clear, Cal was not really expected to advance as one of the final four teams in the final session last year. It was mistakes elsewhere in the session that opened up the opportunity to advance. After the disappointing third rotation, Cal did close the fourth rotation on beam in spectacular style. They have since rode that momentum into this year where they consistently achieve and maintain the level of belonging to that NCAA Final “Four on the Floor” by being ranked No.2 or No.3.

In 2024, Cal does not need other teams’ mistakes to advance. Golden Bears just need to do their own gymnastics.

In collegiate women’s gymnastics unlike that of the men nor that of the elite/Olympic level, the scoring based on the perfect 10 system has created more of a artificial parity across the sport. Without any bonus points for harder skills, this is more about executing their skills to perfection. While there has been some controversy about how this scoring in recent years have produced too many 10’s, there also have been some issues of how earlier routines might be underscored by judges to make sure there are room to differentiate. Nonetheless, while a perfect 200 team points is probably impossible, a potential championship winning team score of over 198 (meaning over 9.9 on every scores that count, with only the top 5 of 6 routines each rotation counting) is kind of a target. Even with the extra judges at the regional, Cal won the Berkeley Regional with a score of 198.275.

Cal Bears should advance to the final session for the first time in program history if they avoid a major mistake and score around 198 today. To be honest, Cal might even be able to count a 9.3 (a fall where everything else is kind of okay) and still advance.

The top two from each of the two sessions will advance to Saturday. In session 1 with Cal, the conventional wisdom is that it will be No.3 Cal and No.2 LSU advancing ahead of No.12 Arkansas and No.19 Stanford.

Two-time defending champs No.1 Oklahoma is in the other semifinal session and either No.4 Utah or No.5 Florida or less-likely No.8 Alabama may join them.

Of course, there are always teams that crumble under the pressure of the NCAA Championships.

On Thursday, Cal will start on Floor and then move to Vault. Bars will be third, and the Bears will close on Beam. Yes, this is the same rotation as last year. This is also the schedule that doomed favorites like UCLA and Denver in the Berkeley Regional despite those teams starting out very well on floor.

Then again, those teams are not the 2024 Cal Bears. Bears are ranked 3rd on Floor, 6th on Vault, 2nd on Bars, and 2nd on Beam nationally. Cal also got two great all-arounder in sophomore eMjae Frazier and junior Mya Lauzon who are ranked 3rd and 6th, respectively.

In what has solidified as the lineup for this year, Cal is actually running out four all-arounders with Frazier, Lauzon, and another pair of juniors Maddie Williams and Ella Cesario. Frazier and Lauzon can both score 39.75 or better with highs of 39.825 (Cal record) and 39.775, respectively. Maddie Williams is 17th in the country with an average of 39.565 and Ella Cesario is a touch behind at 39.360.

On Floor, the other two spots typically go to freshman Kyen Mayhew and junior Jordan Kane. Mayhew has score 9.925 fairly consistently while Kane is closer to 9.9. For the Regional Final, Andi Li replaced Kane in this spot and earned a 9.9. eMjae Frazier has earned a 10 on floor both last year and this year.

On Vault, Cal’s weakest event on paper, Golden Bears improved on their past season by adding two new routines with the starting value of 10. Only the top teams have a vault lineup consisting of more 10.0 starting values than the typical 9.95. Cal added freshman Kyen Mayhew (9.850) and sophomore Jayden Silvers (9.875) to the vault lineup this year. Mya Lauzon earned Cal’s first postseason perfect 10 with her vault at the Regional Final.

Bears on Bars are such an iconic sight thanks to the recent first NCAA individual womens’ gymnastics title won by Maya Bordas that it is a part of the current Cal/UC Berkeley campus commercial, starring eMjae Frazier. Somewhat surprisingly, Cal has not earned a 10 on bars this season yet. Senior Andi Li is always flirting with perfection on bars with at least a 9.925. Fellow senior Gabby Perea has the other specialist spot and capable of 9.9+.

Finally for the beam, Cal Bears often shows no fear performing on the apparatus that has doomed many teams in the postseason. Maddie Williams as the reliable leadoff has somehow faltered in two of the last four meets with a fall and earning a 9.3. The rest of the team had been able to pick her up though. Before she earned that perfect vault, Lauzon has twice earned 10’s on the balance beam this year.

Even if Cal does have a solid lead going into the final rotation, it is hard to feel that comfortable about the balance beam being the final rotation. Then again, Cal would want to earn their way into the first final session. Just when Cal has ascended to be a top-6 team in the country a few years ago, NCAA changed the postseason format to make the final session from the Super Six to Four on the Floor. Golden Bears had to wait a few more years to ascend to the top-four level like they are this year.

No, regular season success does not guarantee a spot in the final, but the Cal Bears will have a deservedly seemingly “easy” path to advance in this session.

While the team advancing will no doubt be the complete focus of everyone, NCAA individual titles for each of the four apparatus and the all-around are all on the line in the semifinal sessions. We will find out by the end of the second session (6 PM PT on ESPN2) who will earn those by scoring the highest by presumably the same judges across the two sessions.

College Gym News did a great feature article on this Cal team.

Of California’s five team values—commitment, adaptability, humility, inclusivity, and joy—one has been more prominent than the rest throughout the 2024 season. It has been the catalyst to the Golden Bears’ best season ever. It has them threatening for an NCAA title this week. And it’s something that the team exudes in more ways than one.

“Anchoring in joy is the thing that gets it done,” co-head coach Liz Crandall-Howell said. “If they’re having fun and you’re seeing the looseness and freedom in what they’re doing, they’re going to do great.”

With every team being different, Crandall-Howell learned from this group that joy would be the key to getting the pieces of this puzzle to come together. Looking at results alone, mission accomplished. California had its best regular season in program history, earning the Pac-12 regular season title after an undefeated conference slate and lofting its program-best score to 198.550; and it’s primed to surpass its highest-ever finish of seventh (2016, 2021, 2023).

But it’s by simply observing the Golden Bears that one can best see the joy gymnastics brings them.

In several post-meet interviews, Mya Lauzon has talked many times about “Joy” and how the Cal team believes that they will perform their best if they focus on competing with joy. Co-head coach Justin Howell and Lauzon reiterated those points in the quick KRON4 segment below.

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I cannot wait to see the joy on the team’s faces when they exorcise the demons of last year and advance to the NCAA Final session on Saturday where even more people will get to see them perform with that meet on ABC!

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NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Team Semifinal and Individual Final Session 1:

No.3 California vs. No.2 LSU vs. No.12 Arkansas vs. No.19 Stanford

When: Thursday, April 18th, 1:30 PM PT

Where: Dickies Arena (Fort Worth, Texas)

TV: ESPN2

Online Streams: ESPN+ (each apparatus will have its dedicated stream)

ROLL ON YOU BEARS!