March 23, 2012

BERKELEY - The California women's gymnastics team travels to Salt Lake City, Utah to compete in the inaugural Pac-12 Championships on Saturday inside the Huntsman Center on the University of Utah's campus. The Bears, the No. 8 seed in Saturday's championships, will compete in the day's first session at 1 p.m. (PT).

Cal will perform along with fifth-seeded Arizona, sixth-seeded Washington and seventh-seeded Arizona State in Saturday's first session. Top-seeded UCLA, second-seeded Utah, third-seeded Oregon State and fourth-seeded Stanford will compete in the evening session on Saturday, set to begin at 6 p.m. (PT). Widely regarded as the top league for collegiate women's gymnastics, the Pac-12 Conference currently has four teams - No. 4 UCLA, No. 7 Utah, No. 8 Oregon State and No. 11 Stanford - in the top-11 in the nation.

Fans can follow along with live scoring of Saturday's event here. The Pac-12 Championships will be televised on tape-delay. The program will air on Comcast-Bay Area on Sunday, April 1 at 1 p.m. (PT) and on Prime Ticket on Thursday, March 29 at 6 p.m. (PT) and on Friday, March 30 at 5 p.m. (PT).

The Golden Bears, under the direction of first-year head coach Danna Durante, rank No. 49 nationally with an average score of 192.525, an increase from their 2011 average of 192.138. The Bears scored a 191.775 in their last meet against Washington last Sunday on Senior Day at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley.

Cal's top event this season is the vault with an average score of 48.473. The Bears are averaging a score of 48.227 on the bars, a mark of 48.018 in the floor exercise and a 47.807 on the beam.

Junior Madisyn O'Brien is Cal's top performer on the vault with an average score of 9.725 and a regional qualifying mark of 9.795 in the event. She also competes in the all-around for the Bears with an average score of 38.200 in five meets this season.

Sophomore Dallas Crawford owns a team-best average score of 9.632 on the bars, while junior Stina Olivere is averaging a score of 9.598 in the event.

Cal's top performer on the balance beam is junior Nicolette Lew with an average score of 9.653.

Junior Mariesah Pierce owns the Bears' top floor exercise average score this season with a mark of 9.696, while senior Alex Leggitt is averaging a 9.575 in the event.

Cal (4-11) will begin Saturday's competition on the balance beam, before moving to the floor exercise and then the vault and the Bears will finish the day on the uneven bars.

California placed sixth out of seven teams in last season's Pac-10 Championships in Los Angeles with a score of 191.575. Oregon State captured the 2011 conference title.