Jan. 18, 2013

BERKELEY - The California Golden Bears took second in a quad meet on Friday night, defeating UC Davis and University of Illinois - Chicago, but falling to the host Huskies by posting a score of 194.125. The Bears won the vault competition by scoring 49.125 and won the floor with a 48.725. Senior Madisyn O'Brien won the individual bars competition with an exceptional routine, scoring 9.850.

The Bears made some uncharacteristic errors early in the meet, but found their competitive stride as the meet continued to post their third strong score of the young season.

"We had some uncharacteristic mistakes on bars," said head coach Justin Howell. "We weren't competing with the same confidence that we've had the last two weekends and that's something we need to work on. This was our first true road test and it showed. Davis isn't that far and we still felt like we were on our home turf. This was our first away trip where we got on a plane and slept in a hotel. We need to find our rhythm on the road before we travel to Utah."

Cal's final event of the night, vault, proved to be their strongest. Sophomore Alicia Asturias and Dallas Crawford, freshmen Kristina Heyman and Serena Leong, and senior Mariesah Pierce proved to be an unflappable lineup, and their 49.125 was tops for the meet. Asturias and Crawford paced the team with scores of 9.850 to tie for first.

"I was very impressed with our vault squad," said Howell. "We only sent five up, and they won the event and broke a 49. I was happy with how we finished on a strong note."

The Golden Bears started the event on bars, where O'Brien put together an outstanding flight combo to win the event with her 9.850. The Bears took third on the apparatus with a 48.450.

Cal continued the meet on beam where they tied for second with a 47.825. Paz tied for second with her score of 9.750, and senior Carol Chang also put together a great routine to earn a 9.700.

Next the Bears went to the floor, where they began to hit their full stride. Pierce and Leong both scored 9.800 to tie for second in the competition. The Bears won the apparatus with their 48.725.

The Golden Bears compete in the gym again on Saturday, Jan. 26 when they take on Stanford at Haas Pavilion at 7:00 p.m.