What happened to Clemson? (1-4) Sometimes poaching doesn't work out.
Cal Women's Gymnastics is alive & kickin' ... we got a 4 star flip!!!!!!
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Last: 4 days ago by ncbears
Ccajon2 said:
What happened to Clemson? (1-4) Sometimes poaching doesn't work out.
There losses were all to ranked teams. Alabama, Stanford, NCstate, and Cal. With our win we might leapfrog over Clemson in the rankings.
A great win for the Bears! So happy for this team and for our new coaches. Not to mention that Clemson was ranked number 16 while the Bears were ranked 20th. It is very impressive to see the kind of turnout that Clemson gets for their home Gymnastic meets as they had somewhere between 7 - 8,000 fans in attendance.
Yes, Justin and Liz took at least two of Cal's high school commits with them when they left and Ella Cesario went as a grad transfer.
What's particularly impressive to me is how well the team is doing considering that Sophomore Ondine Achampong who was considered the Bear's top gymnast entering the season was lost for the year to her 2nd ACL injury and so many of Cal's top performers are so young. Freshman Tonya Paulson who has twice won the new comer of the week in the ACC once again won the all-around as well as the bar event with a score of 9.925 and junior Annalise Newman-Achee finished third in the all-around which placed her in the top three in six straight meets thus far.
* Sophomore Sage Melkonian shared first place in the Uneven Bars with Paulson.
* Freshman Sara Lee shared first place on the Balance Beam with 5th year Senior Abby Scanlon.
* Sage Melkonian tied Paulsson for 1st place on the Uneven Bars & fellow Sophomore Mya Wiley scored a career high 9.875 on the same event.
*. Sophomore CJ Keuneke & and Junior Kyen Mathew put up back-to-back 9.875 routines on the floor, which was a new season best for Keuneke and matched Mayhew's highest floor score of 2026.
All that to say that Cal has a very talented and young team which means they are likely to get better. Congrats to the Bears new head coach, Geralyn Stack-Eaton, she had big shoes to fill and it appears she's doing just fine. So happy she brought Mya Lauzon and Maddie Williams back as coaches to work with these young ladies.
GO BEARS!
Yes, Justin and Liz took at least two of Cal's high school commits with them when they left and Ella Cesario went as a grad transfer.
What's particularly impressive to me is how well the team is doing considering that Sophomore Ondine Achampong who was considered the Bear's top gymnast entering the season was lost for the year to her 2nd ACL injury and so many of Cal's top performers are so young. Freshman Tonya Paulson who has twice won the new comer of the week in the ACC once again won the all-around as well as the bar event with a score of 9.925 and junior Annalise Newman-Achee finished third in the all-around which placed her in the top three in six straight meets thus far.
* Sophomore Sage Melkonian shared first place in the Uneven Bars with Paulson.
* Freshman Sara Lee shared first place on the Balance Beam with 5th year Senior Abby Scanlon.
* Sage Melkonian tied Paulsson for 1st place on the Uneven Bars & fellow Sophomore Mya Wiley scored a career high 9.875 on the same event.
*. Sophomore CJ Keuneke & and Junior Kyen Mathew put up back-to-back 9.875 routines on the floor, which was a new season best for Keuneke and matched Mayhew's highest floor score of 2026.
All that to say that Cal has a very talented and young team which means they are likely to get better. Congrats to the Bears new head coach, Geralyn Stack-Eaton, she had big shoes to fill and it appears she's doing just fine. So happy she brought Mya Lauzon and Maddie Williams back as coaches to work with these young ladies.
GO BEARS!
Frazier is competing for Florida and is not coaching Cal.
ncbears said:
Frazier is competing for Florida and is not coaching Cal.
I'm sure they mean Maddie Williams (grad assistant) in addition to Lauzon
sosheezy said:ncbears said:
Frazier is competing for Florida and is not coaching Cal.
I'm sure they mean Maddie Williams (grad assistant) in addition to Lauzon
That is correct. I've fixed my post.
yeah I thought they were trying to sneak one away from Cal.
Anyone see how Paulsson's floor only scored a 9.7?
Anyone see how Paulsson's floor only scored a 9.7?
JTfromClash said:
yeah I thought they were trying to sneak one away from Cal.
Anyone see how Paulsson's floor only scored a 9.7?
Per the commentary, at least some deduction was on her final pass where she didn't have her chest at the preferred angle - i think she was bent more than judges look for. That seemed like a huge deduction - if that's what it was.
Cal doesn't move in the rankings - still 20th but given the absence of any 197 team scores, that's not too bad. Meanwhile, Oklahoma is almost averaging 198.
https://roadtonationals.com/results/standings/season/2026/6/0/5
I read that rankings switch to NQS in week 7 (which is this weekend) -
NQS changes for this year from six (three away and three home) to counting Nine meets - maximum of five home meets count.
Fro CollegeGymNews: "A maximum of five scores from home meets may be counted; if a team competes in more than five home meets, then the five lowest scores will be retained, with all higher home scores being dropped. In addition, the scores from at least five away meets must be counted toward the minimum of nine. Once determining the meets that count toward NQS, the high and low scores will be dropped and the remaining scores averaged in order to obtain the final number used for rankings and postseason eligibility. " https://collegegymnews.com/2025/11/26/breaking-major-changes-coming-to-national-qualifying-score-in-2026/
Cal has only five home meets this season - one of which was a 196.0500 against NCState. But, Cal also has a 195.550 Away score against Pittsburgh. Two away meets are left - Metroplex Challenge this week and then Feb 27 vs San Jose State and Sac State, plus the ACC Conference Championships. Simply Cal needs to be putting up 197 team scores now.
ncbears said:JTfromClash said:
yeah I thought they were trying to sneak one away from Cal.
Anyone see how Paulsson's floor only scored a 9.7?
Cal doesn't move in the rankings - still 20th but given the absence of any 197 team scores, that's not too bad. Simply Cal needs to be putting up 197 team scores now.
Annalise unfortunate fall on the beam cause us to miss our first 197. Each event we have to include too many 9.7+ scorer. This is a young team (experience wise) so consistency is an issue.
One more event with Cal in 2nd place. Wonder what happened to Stanford.
Final Cal comes in 2nd behind Georgia. Still haven't reached the 197 mark.
The meet scores are incomplete on team but can see how individuals did here:
https://www.meetscoresonline.com/results/36135
You can toggle to team - but it shows only a few scores on each event.
https://www.meetscoresonline.com/results/36135
You can toggle to team - but it shows only a few scores on each event.
Cal seems to be improving as season progresses. The team should be ranked when it can score above 197.
GO BEARS!
GO BEARS!
How is it that there are no videos of Cal Gymnasts from the Metroplex Challenge anywhere? None on the Cal Athletics website, none on Google and none here on BI. really impressed with how Cal is performing given that this was supposed to be a rebuilding year after losing 4 of their top performers from last year as well as Ondine to injury who was arguable their best all-around gymnasts this year.
Geralyn Stack-Eaton and her staff are doing a great job of bringing this team along as they use a variety of team members and their team scores continue to improve. They took 2nd in the Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth, TX on Valentine's Day finishing behind only the 8th ranked Georgia Bulldogs while out performing # 10 Stanford 196.850 to 196.4.00. Add that to their victory last week against #16 ranked Clemson & it marks the 2nd time in 8 days they've out scored a team ranked higher than the 20th ranked Bears. Have to think their ranking will improve in the next reset of rankings.
Very impressed with the depth & of the program and the distribution of talent by grade level. Don't anticipate this year's team has the ceiling we've seen the last two years, but really think they will continue to improve.
GO BEARS!
Geralyn Stack-Eaton and her staff are doing a great job of bringing this team along as they use a variety of team members and their team scores continue to improve. They took 2nd in the Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth, TX on Valentine's Day finishing behind only the 8th ranked Georgia Bulldogs while out performing # 10 Stanford 196.850 to 196.4.00. Add that to their victory last week against #16 ranked Clemson & it marks the 2nd time in 8 days they've out scored a team ranked higher than the 20th ranked Bears. Have to think their ranking will improve in the next reset of rankings.
Very impressed with the depth & of the program and the distribution of talent by grade level. Don't anticipate this year's team has the ceiling we've seen the last two years, but really think they will continue to improve.
GO BEARS!
With NQS now in effect, Cal moves to 18th. Still behind Clemson (14), North Carolina (16) and Stanford (10).
Calbear73 said:
How is it that there are no videos of Cal Gymnasts from the Metroplex Challenge anywhere? None on the Cal Athletics website, none on Google and none here on BI.
GO BEARS!
Not only video ... but why can't we see the final statistics or live results for all the teams. I dont want to have to go to each team's website to see how they did. I want to know what happened to stanford for them to come in 3rd place. I think they were more informative last year.
ncbears said:
With NQS now in effect, Cal moves to 18th. Still behind Clemson (14), North Carolina (16) and Stanford (10).
I just read about the new scoring format being used to rank teams this year and I'm hoping someone who is really knowledgeable about scoring can explain why the NCAA feels this is a more equitable way to rank teams. I understand the season long consistency part, but think the new system penalizes young and talented teams like Cal that is in a rebuilding process that improves as the season progresses. Read below.
Three major rule changes have been approved ahead of the 2026 NCAA women's gymnastics season.
According to College Gym News, the changes were announced by the National Collegiate Women's Gymnastics Committee in an email to head coaches and administrators after the proposed new rules were approved by the Administrative Subcommittee of the NCAA Division I Cabinet.
In This Article
The biggest change: NQS to take into account almost all meets
The National Qualifying Score (NQS) for both teams and individuals was previously calculated by taking the three (3) highest away scores and the three (3) highest home scores before dropping the highest score and averaging the remaining five (5) scores.
Now, the Team NQS will be calculated by:
[ol]
The minimum number of meets remains at 9.
NOTE: Individual NQS will continue to be calculated using the old NQS formula NOT the new one.
The new NQS formula will be used to rank teams and determine postseason qualifications/selections starting this upcoming season (2026).
Examples of how this new calculation will work can be seen here.
What does this mean for teams?
There aren't really any "throw away" meets anymore. Previously, teams could have a slow start earlier in the season and hit their stride later on, eventually achieving the necessary three home and three away scores to get a good NQS and qualify to the postseason. Now, essentially all of the meets on a team's schedule matter, even those low-scoring, early season performances.
The only scores that ultimately won't factor in are the extra home meets beyond the maximum five. Even then, since the lowest five home scores are taken, a team like Florida could have a 198 performance at its fifth home meet and follow it up with a 197 performance at its sixth home meet, and then the 197 would replace the 198 since it's lower.
And yes, that means NQS can now go down. The previous NQS formula could only stay the same or go up.
This formula rewards consistency throughout the regular season and strategy will be more important than ever.
Oops. I was reading a "daily" update -
The more official rankings have Cal 17th, UNC 15th, Clemson 14th and Stanford 10
https://roadtonationals.com/results/standings/season/2026/7/0/5
Event rankings:
Bars 9
Vault 19
Beam 19
Floor 31
The more official rankings have Cal 17th, UNC 15th, Clemson 14th and Stanford 10
https://roadtonationals.com/results/standings/season/2026/7/0/5
Event rankings:
Bars 9
Vault 19
Beam 19
Floor 31
ncbears said:
Oops. I was reading a "daily" update -
The more official rankings have Cal 17th, UNC 15th, Clemson 14th and Stanford 10
https://roadtonationals.com/results/standings/season/2026/7/0/5
Event rankings:
Bars 9
Vault 19
Beam 19
Floor 31
Thought last week's floor was there best of the year. Improving! As a reminder Cal will be home against UNC thus Friday at 7:30 ! Wish it wasn't so late but hope to be there.
Reminder Cal #17 vs #15 UNC at 7:30 tonight. Come support out improving gymnastic team.
Delete duplicated post.
^ self-booth (ie - double post)
# stuff happens
# stuff happens
< Im not sick, but im not well; sometimes it feels.. >
UNC's #15 ranking is based on an NQS score of 196.440. UNC has been really consistent around that score. The high was 196.675 at the first meet, but it's last two meets were 196.325 and 196.375 (Metroplex Challenge where Cal also competed)
UNC is #10 on vaullt, #17 on beam, #19 on floor and #25 on bars
Cal's NQS score is lower, but Cal has been above UNC's high score each of the last three meets:
196.825, 196.950, and 196.875 (the Metroplex where UNC also competed so probably same judges)
Cal is #19 on vault, #9 on bars, #31 on floor and #19 on beam.
UNC is #10 on vaullt, #17 on beam, #19 on floor and #25 on bars
Cal's NQS score is lower, but Cal has been above UNC's high score each of the last three meets:
196.825, 196.950, and 196.875 (the Metroplex where UNC also competed so probably same judges)
Cal is #19 on vault, #9 on bars, #31 on floor and #19 on beam.
Not the best first event for Cal
Cal scores 49.000 on vault.. Underperformance as a team from last three meets.
UNC had a disastrous first competitor but recovers to score 49.150 on bars, their second highest score on bars this year.
UNC has never scored less than 49.00 on vault but Cal also has been generally better than 49.150 on bars, although that was the score at Metroplex.
Cal scores 49.000 on vault.. Underperformance as a team from last three meets.
UNC had a disastrous first competitor but recovers to score 49.150 on bars, their second highest score on bars this year.
UNC has never scored less than 49.00 on vault but Cal also has been generally better than 49.150 on bars, although that was the score at Metroplex.
Bears difficult in stinking their landIng. Think only Annalise didnt take a step.
UNC does not have their strongest vault - 49.125 -
But Cal ties its second highest bar score of the year - 49.400 led by Paulsson anchor 9.925.
And so Cal leads 98.400 to 98.275.
But, Cal still has its weakest event - floor - to come. And that's where Cal will finish.
But Cal ties its second highest bar score of the year - 49.400 led by Paulsson anchor 9.925.
And so Cal leads 98.400 to 98.275.
But, Cal still has its weakest event - floor - to come. And that's where Cal will finish.
After back to back 49.275 on beam, Cal falters to 49. 050 with Scanlon having a broken connection in the anchor.
Meanwhile UNC goes 49.325 on floor - their second highest score this year.
UNC leads going to the fourth rotation 147.600 to 147.450. But beam is beam, so who knows what might happen to the Tar Heels. Last week was 49.350 but two weeks ago was 48.950.
But, Cal is on its weakest event - floor. Best score this year was 49.275 last week and have been on the upswing the last few weeks.
Meanwhile UNC goes 49.325 on floor - their second highest score this year.
UNC leads going to the fourth rotation 147.600 to 147.450. But beam is beam, so who knows what might happen to the Tar Heels. Last week was 49.350 but two weeks ago was 48.950.
But, Cal is on its weakest event - floor. Best score this year was 49.275 last week and have been on the upswing the last few weeks.
Wow. Cal pulls it out in the last routine on floor - when UNC's anchor and beam specialist only gets a 9.8 and Paulsson gets 9.875. Cal gets 49.350 - top score on floor this year.
Final: Cal: 196.800 UNC 196.750 . That is UNC's top score for the year.
https://scores.virti.us/?s=Gy1UoEUV_S
Final: Cal: 196.800 UNC 196.750 . That is UNC's top score for the year.
https://scores.virti.us/?s=Gy1UoEUV_S
Did not know that UNC's coach was Cal's coach for one year in 2011-2012 before heading to Georgia. It wasn't that great of a year for the Bears. It was an interesting interview with her about coming back to Haas.
Justin Howell was assistant coach that ayear before becoming head coach the next year with his spouse Elizabeth Crandall where they slowly built up the Cal program.
Justin Howell was assistant coach that ayear before becoming head coach the next year with his spouse Elizabeth Crandall where they slowly built up the Cal program.
Quite a fight in this Bear squad! Very good win. Two really good rotations and two not so good rotations. I do think Cal was underscored a few times, not by much, but in this meet it would have really mattered as the margin for victory would have been greater.
Go Bears!
Go Bears!
Any idea what was the attendance? Im guessing 1300-1500. Why dont they post the performance of both team?
OBear073akaSMFan said:
Any idea what was the attendance? Im guessing 1300-1500. Why dont they post the performance of both team?
RoadToNationals says 2264. prior home meet vs NCState was 1768
Latest NQS rankings (2/23) has Cal (196.483) slipping by UNC (196.479) into 16th. UNC slips to 17th even though UNC had its top score for the season.
Even without a 197, Cal could rise to 14th ahead of Clemson whose NQS is 196.550. Dual meet wins are fun - but the key is team scores regardless of win or loss.
On events: Cal as a team still is at #9 on Bars, still at #19 Beam, #20 Vault down from #19, but up to #28 on floor.
Even without a 197, Cal could rise to 14th ahead of Clemson whose NQS is 196.550. Dual meet wins are fun - but the key is team scores regardless of win or loss.
On events: Cal as a team still is at #9 on Bars, still at #19 Beam, #20 Vault down from #19, but up to #28 on floor.
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