BERKELEY – As Cal women's gymnastics associate head coach Liz Crandall-Howell watched Desiree Palomares' floor routine – the final performance of the night for the Golden Bears – she couldn't help but feel emotional.
 
Week after week of injuries – first a dislocated knee for newcomer Cassidy Keelen, then a torn Achilles for Olympian Toni-Ann Williams, and this week a second torn ACL for Dana Ho – and back-to-back losses on the road had left team morale sinking.
 
Not today.
 
The Bears put it all past them with one focus in mind: have fun.
 
That's exactly what they did, as California scored its third-highest team total in program history and the third-highest uneven bars score in program history to propel the 18th-ranked Golden Bears to an upset over 12th-ranked Oregon State Saturday afternoon in Haas Pavilion. The Bears rebounded from back-to-back road losses with a 197.075 to top OSU'S 196.825 and stay perfect at home.
 
"We were just so proud of them and the gritty performances they had tonight to put it together," said head coach Justin Howell. "When you have all the injuries that we've had, you can't help but wonder what's going to happen or have some doubt about how you're going to make up for those scores. We can't make up for a teammate we lost, or a score. That's out of our control. But we can go out and hit routines the way that we're capable of and the way that we train."
 
Cal earned a 49.475 on bars, its best score of the season and third-highest total in season history, and also set season-highs on beam (49.225) and floor (49.225)
 
"We were into each other and the team performances. We were going for hits. We've been focusing on landings and all those things, and it was great to see those things come to fruition tonight," Howell said.
 
Arianna Robinson picked up her third vault title this year and shared the floor title with Zoe Draghi. Alicia Gallarzo drew a career-high 9.925 on bars for her second event title of the season.
 
"Our team did a tremendous job of keeping the energy up from start to finish, and the crowd was great," Howell said.
 
Though Cal started off the meet with a strong 49.150 on vault, including a title-winning 9.875 by Robinson and a second-place 9.85 vault from Sylvie Seilnacht, Oregon State took the early lead with a 49.300 bars rotation.
 
Instead of letting the Beavers slip by, the Bear stayed focus in their second rotation, and that made all the difference.
 
Sofie Seilnacht started it off with a 9.875 and stuck her dismount, and the Bears rolled on from there. Chelsea Shu and Emily Richardson added career-high 9.90s to the rotation, and Gallarzo capped it all off with a meet-best and career-best 9.925. With strong landings on every dismount, the result was a 49.475 – Cal's third-best score on bars in school history.
 
"We stuck or nearly stuck every single dismount. That was really impressive," Howell said. "Our landings on bars were the difference maker. We know if we land well, we're putting points back on the board and that was evident tonight."
 
Bars propelled the Bears past the Beavers, 98.625-98.375, and the confidence built from there.
 
Gallarzo added her second career-high total of the afternoon with a 9.90 in the beam anchor spot. Emily Richardson's season-high 9.85 and another career-high for Shu – a 9.85 – boosted Cal to a season-high 49.225 on beam.
 
After three rotations, Cal led 147.850-147.725, and though Oregon State produced a robust 49.350 beam rotation, Cal closed the door with a consistent floor lineup. Both Sylvie Seilnacht and Mariah Peterson registered personal-best 9.80s, while season-high 9.90s from Robinson and Draghi gave the duo a share of the floor title and sealed Cal's season-high 49.225 floor score.
 
"We're a great team and when we come together and put our focus and energy in the right place, anything can happen," Howell said. "We should really be able to take a lot of confidence away from this meet."
 
NEXT UP
Cal heads to its second Big 10 campus of the season for a quad meet at Nebraska. The Huskers will play host to the Golden Bears, alongside Southeast Missouri and Utah State on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 4 p.m. PT.
 
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