March 17, 2005

BERKELEY -

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This Week:
March 19 at San Jose State, vs No. 25 Stanford
San Jose, CA (Spartan Gym), 7:00 p.m.

WHAT'S ON TAP: The California women's gymnastics team finishes up regular-season competition with a tri-meet at San Jose State with No. 25 Stanford on Sat., March 19. Cal fell to the rival Cardinal in a quad meet at Utah on March 4, 196.025-191.500. Meet time at SJSU's Spartan Gym is 7 p.m.

LESS IS MORE: The Bears have had just seven healthy gymnasts available for their last four meets but it hasn't stopped Cal from posting some of the highest team and individual marks of the year. Cal set season highs in the all-around (192.350) and on vault (48.625) and floor (48.575) in a loss to Utah State on March 7. The Bears also posted a season-high 48.750 on beam in losses to No. 2 Utah, No. 6 Florida and Stanford March 4. Individually, senior My-Lan Dodd, who holds four of the top five all-around marks in program history, has twice posted season-high scores of 39.200 in the last four meets. Of the 24 combined individual events and all-arounds Cal gymnasts currently compete in, the Bears have established season-high marks in 22 of them since Feb. 25. Some of Cal's recent individual accomplishments: « Dodd has posted season highs on beam (9.825) and floor (9.825) in the last three weeks while her 9.900 on vault in Cal's loss at Utah State March 7 is the single top mark any Bear has recorded in 2005.
« Senior Lauren Shipp established a new career-high mark on bars (9.775) at Utah State and matched it a week later in Cal's loss to North Carolina State March 11. Against the Wolfpack, she also set a season-high of 9.825 on beam.
« Sophomore Isabel Garcia has posted career highs on vault (9.675) and beam (9.725) in the last three meets. She also set a season-high of 9.700 on floor against North Carolina State.
« Siobhan Luce has been on of two freshman pressed into all-around service and she hasn't disappointed. The Reno, Nev., native has raised or equaled her all-around score in five successive meets, topping out at 38.525 March 19. In the last three meets she has collected new career highs on vault (9.725), bars (9.625) and beam (9.700). Luce has scored a 9.750 on floor in three straight meets.
« Freshman Nicki Wells' best night of the year came at Utah State when she posted career highs on vault (9.700), bars (9.750) and floor (9.825). Her 9.725 on beam helped Wells post a season-high 38.625 all-around mark March 4.
« Complications kept Elyse Wong out of the Bears' first six meets but the sophomore set a career high on beam (9.725) March 7 and a season-high on floor (9.675) March 11.
« Freshman Alli Szutu began the season on all four events but has scaled her competition down to two in the last month. She set a career-high 9.675 on vault at Utah State.

SCOUTING THE CARDINAL: Stanford's 25th-best Regional Qualifying Score of 194.660 is buoyed by their 10th-ranked RQS of 49.010 on bars ... the Cardinal are also ranked 35th on vault (48.475), 28th on beam (48.560) and 26th on floor (48.900) ... nationally, freshman Liz Tricase (9.895) and Tabitha Yim (9.890) rank sixth and eighth, respectively, on bars.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS: San Jose State's top event is floor, where the Spartans have posted an RQS of 48.030 ... sophomore Greta Leach's 38.740 is tops on SJSU and 58th nationally.

CARDINAL CONNECTION: Fourth-year Stanford head coach Kristin Smyth competed for Cal from 1989-92 and is, perhaps, the most accomplished gymnast in Golden Bear history. Smyth, who was named Cal's "Gymnast of the Decade" for 1990s, was a three-time All-American and two-time NCAA Championships participant. At the 1992 NCAA meet, Smyth recorded a 38.775 in the all-around to finish ninth, the top finish for any Bear in any event in NCAA history.

LOOKING AHEAD: For the first time in the structure's history, Haas Pavilion will play host to the 2005 Pac-10 Gymnastics Championships. The best in the west will convene in Berkeley, March 26 at 3 p.m.