Palomares, Williams Three-Peat To Win Tri Meet
Peter Fukumae
(Photo by Peter Fukumae)

Palomares, Williams Three-Peat To Win Tri Meet

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BERKELEY – Desiree Palomares and Toni-Ann Williams each picked up event titles in a third consecutive meet to keep No. 13 California women's gymnastics undefeated in 2017. The Golden Bears used their first 196+ score of the season, a 196.300, to power past No. 17 Washington (195.325) and San Jose State (193.875) in a triangular meet at Haas Pavilion Saturday evening.

Cal is 7-0 overall and 2-0 against Pac-12 opponents this season after scoring above 49.0 on three of four events.

"Overall I was pleased. Each weekend, we're getting better, which is great," said head coach Justin Howell.

Palomares won her third consecutive beam title with a career-high 9.90, and William won her third consecutive floor title with a 9.90. A 2016 Olympian, Williams also earned the vault crown with a 9.875.

Cal topped the 49.0 mark on vault for the second time this season, going 49.125 with a lineup led by a 9.875 from Williams. Arianna Robinson's 9.85 and Emily Richardson's 9.825 also highlighted the event.

Solid scores spilled over to the uneven bars, where the Bears combined for a season-high 49.100 on the event with a lineup that included four 9.775s. Richardson's career-high 9.90 earned her the runner-up title, and Williams turned in yet another gigantic Hindorff on the event to go for a season-best 9.875. Sofie Seilnacht made her season debut on the event with a 9.775.

After sweeping the balance beam titles in the first two meets of the season, the Bears once again showcased their prowess on the event with a 49.175 season-high and meet-best beam total. Palomares led the way with her third consecutive beam title and career-high 9.90.

"She's so confident on beam. She doesn't just do her routine…she performs it," Howell said. "She attacks it like it's a vault."

Zoe Draghi, who returned to the lineup for the first time last week at Iowa, logged a season-high 9.825. Dana Ho scored 9.85 in her debut, and after a fall by Cassidy Keelen, Richardson helped the Bears rebound with a 9.75.

"Any time that your beam team is attacking beam like that, it's just so much fun to watch," Howell said. "We've been doing that each week, and we're competing the way that we're training, which is awesome."

The Bears fell just short of wrapping up the meet with another 49.0 score on floor, instead earning a 48.900.

"I was disappointed with floor, Howell said. "This is a couple of weeks now where we've had some landing errors and unplanned mistakes on floor, and we're a good floor team."

Williams took her third title of the year on the event with a 9.90. Rookie Alexandra Dudschus led off the event with a career-high 9.825, and the Bears also saw season-highs from Charlie Owens (9.825) and Palomares (9.65).

"Going into the fourth meet of the season, we need to be better on floor. We're going to really work on that over the next week," Howell added.

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