Bears Selected to Salt Lake City Regional

BERKELEY – California women's gymnastics continues its postseason run in Salt Lake City, Utah, where the Golden Bears clinched the No. 2 seed at the NCAA Salt Lake City Regional, the NCAA selection committee announced today. The ninth-ranked Bears join regional No. 1 seed Utah, Auburn, BYU, Stanford and Southern Utah with a chance to clinch one of two national championship berths in the six-team regional competition.
 
Meet time is set for 3 p.m. PT/4 p.m. MT on Saturday, April 7 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
 
"We've competed in Utah several times, so it will be a really fun experience for both our returners and our freshmen," said California head coach Justin Howell. "Being in the Pac-12, we have Utah and Stanford also in this regional. Gymnastics is a small world and we're all fans of each other, so it makes it that much more fun when you're competing with people you respect. I think it's going to be a great regional for all of us."
 
Utah is one of six predetermined host sites on the road to the 2018 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships, along with Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Alabama), Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota), Raleigh, N.C. (NC State), Columbus, Ohio (Ohio State) and University Park, Penn. (Penn State). Each regional site will feature six teams, four all-around competitors who are not part of teams who qualified for regional competition and two individual event specialists for each event who met the minimum Regional Qualifying Score (RQS), all vying for spots at the Championships.
 
"It's a great regional draw for us. Traveling to Salt Lake City is close, and there's an electric fanbase already built in," Howell added. "For our student-athletes to compete in a really energetic environment will be great. It really keeps the energy up, and I know we have a great Cal fanbase who are going to add to what's already happening in Salt Lake City."
 
The top two teams at each site, plus the top two all-around competitors and event specialists (who are not on an advancing team), will advance to the NCAA Championships, held in Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Mo. on April 20 and 21.
 
Cal is seeking its first regional title and third berth to the Championships in school history. The Bears clinched their first team championship berth at nationals in 2016, breaking a 24-year drought for the program. The 2016 season saw the Bears take second at the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional with a 195.925 to advance to the national event.
 
This year marks the sixth consecutive season the Bears have qualified for regional competition as a team, and the 23rd season overall. Cal has had representation at an NCAA regional 32 times in the 36-year period that the NCAA has sponsored women's gymnastics.
 
California is coming off its best-ever finish at the Pac-12 Championships, where the Bears set a program record beam total (49.400) en route to a 196.950 third-place finish. Cal's 196.950 was its all-time highest score at the conference championship event, and fifth-highest total in school history. Cal ranks among the nation's top 25 on all four events -- vault (8th, 49.275 RQS), beam (12th, 49.230), bars (15th, 49.230) and floor (22nd, 49.255).