No. 3 Bears Advance To NCAA Championship Finals

FORT WORTH, Texas – Another historic benchmark was added to an already memorable season Thursday when the No. 3 women's gymnastics team advanced to the finals of the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history at Dickies Arena.

The Golden Bears finished in second place in their NCAA semifinal, joining No. 2 LSU in Saturday's championship meet. Cal and LSU will be joined by the top two finishers of Thursday night's other semifinal to compete for the national title.

The Bears compiled a team score of 197.7125 to easily advance. No. 2 LSU registered the top score while Stanford and Arkansas finished third and fourth, respectively, and failed to qualify for the finals.

"There was no doubt in our minds that they were capable of achieving whatever they want to in gymnastics – the coolest thing is that they did it while they were totally enjoying each other," Cal co-head coach Liz Crandall-Howell said. "Now they get to go out and celebrate with this team one more time."

Junior Mya Lauzon tied for first place on vault with a 9.95 and second in the all-around with a mark of 39.6375. Sophomore eMjae Frazier tied for third on the floor exercise with a 9.9375.

"This is such a historic accomplishment for us," Lauzon said. "We just performed with joy and freedom. That's all we needed to do to make it to (Saturday), and that's exactly what we did today. It's such an amazing feeling to make it to Day 2 for the first time in history. We are just going to bring it and have a lot of fun."

Frazier and freshman Kyen Mayhew helped Cal take the lead after one rotation, as Mayhew put up a 9.9 on floor to give the Bears a 49.4125. After a 49.3625 on vault, the Bears reeled off a dominant uneven bars performance, as all five of their counted scores were 9.9 or higher. Seniors Gabby Perea and Andi Li each recorded a 9.9125 while Lauzon, Frazier and junior Ella Cesario scored a 9.9.

Cal closed on balance beam with a solid lead over third-place Stanford. After a fall midway through the rotation, Frazier, Lauzon and Perea finished strong to clinch the berth in Saturday's finals.

"We've been practicing like every competition is not bigger than the next," Frazier said. "Carrying that into nationals and not making it bigger than it is, but using our fans, using our team, using our family, and just continuing to build that energy with each other – and just not letting us get out of our own Bear bubble. It's always just us,"

The Bears advanced to the final day of the NCAA Championships for the first time in seven appearances.

Saturday's meet begins at 1 p.m. PT and airs on ABC.