Recruiting Breakdown: Kyana George Leads Cal's Newest Class

Recruiting Breakdown: Kyana George Leads Cal's Newest Class

Check out the six newest members of the Cal women's gymnastics team.

Aug 15, 2017 by Lauren Green
Recruiting Breakdown: Kyana George Leads Cal's Newest Class
​The 2018 NCAA gymnastics season is still months away, but it's never too early to get to know the incoming freshman class for each team. Here's a breakdown of the new additions California has made for next year.

California entered 2017 with high hopes to build off a historic 2016 season. The Bears aimed to make it back-to-back years at the NCAA championships, but fell a little bit short in 2017. Justin Howell's squad suffered an early blow in 2017 when the Bears lost junior standout Toni-Ann Williams to a torn Achilles and then Dana Ho to a torn ACL and MCL. One of Cal's top performances came against Oregon State, in which the Bears posted a season-high 197.075 behind a stellar uneven bars performance.

​Outgoing: ​Isabelle Castillo, Zoe Draghi, Dana Ho, Jessica Howe, Charlie Owens, Desiree Palomares, Emily Richardson, Amber Takara
The Bears will be hit hard by its eight-member graduating class. California will lose 12 routines from its 2017 lineups though injuries and other circumstances kept several gymnasts from appearing in more lineups. The Bears lose two vaults (Richardson and Takara), three uneven bars routines (Richardson, Takara, and Ho), four routines on beam (Draghi, Palomares, Richardson and Ho), and two floor routines (Owens and Draghi).

Charlie Owens competed as an all-arounder during her first two seasons at Cal. Jessica Howe only competed once as a senior due to injury but contributed consistently on bars, beam, and floor in previous seasons. Isabelle Castillo battled injuries throughout her entire career at Cal before medically retiring prior to the 2017 season. There will be some big shoes for the incoming class to fill and competition for so many open spaces in the lineups will be fierce.

​Incoming: ​Kyana George, Alma Kuc, Victoria Salem, Nina Schank, Emi Watterson, Maleah Pearson

Kyana George

McKinney, Texas
Trains at Metroplex Gymnastics
Coached by Gina Logan and Marnie Futch

George is a six-time J.O. national championship qualifier. She was the 2017 J.O. national champion on floor exercise and she also took third in the all-around and on balance beam in that competition. She earned silver in the all-around at both the 2017 Region 3 and Texas state championships. She was the state champion on both uneven bars and floor exercise. George picked up silver in the all-around and on floor at the 2016 J.O. Nationals, and in the all-around, on floor, vault, and beam at the Region 3 championships. She earned state titles in back-to-back years in 2014 and 2015 and individual titles on bars (2016), beam (2016), and floor (2015, 2016). She picked up the floor exercise title at the 2012 J.O. National Invitational Tournament.

​Video courtesy of USA Gymnastics

​Impact event: All-around

Alma Kuc

Pacific Palisades, California
Trains at All Olympia Gymnastics Center
Coached by Artur Akopyan, Galina Marinova, and Marcello Figue

Kuc grabbed gold on balance beam and silver on uneven bars at the 2017 Southern California state championships. A member of the Polish national team, Kuc competed at the 2017 European championships on the uneven bars for the second straight year. She earned silver in the all-around and on both bars and floor at the 2016 Gym Festival Trnava and on bars at the Polish championships. Kuc competed with Team Poland at both the 2014 and 2015 world championships where she performed in the all-around during qualifications. She competed on both vault and bars at the 2013 Nastia Liukin Cup. She earned titles on the uneven bars at the Southern California state championships and Region 1 championships in 2013. She finished third on bars and tied for ninth on vault at the J.O. national championships in 2013.

​Video courtesy of Anna Supera-Kuc

​Impact event: Uneven bars

Victoria Salem

San Bruno, California
Trains at San Mateo Gymnastics
Coached by Armen Astoian and Oksana Bystrova

Salem earned silver on the uneven bars at the Northern California state championships in 2017. She was the J.O. national champion on balance beam and earned silver on bars in 2016. She is a three-time regional champion, earning titles on uneven bars (2014, 2016) and balance beam (2015). Salem is a three-time state champion on uneven bars (2014, 2015, 2016) and the 2016 state champion in the all-around. She also earned state titles on balance beam (2015) and vault (2016).

​Video courtesy of USA Gymnastics

​Impact events: Uneven bars and balance beam

Nina Schank

Oakland, California
Trains at Head Over Heels Athletic Arts

Schank was the uneven bars champion at the 2017 J.O. national championships where she also finished ninth in the all-around. She took the Region 1 uneven bars crown and also picked up silver medals in the all-around and on vault and balance beam. Schank was the Northern California state all-around champion and picked up state titles on uneven bars and balance beam in both 2016 and 2017. She competed at J.O. nationals in 2015 and 2016, tying for ninth on vault and 12th on bars in 2016 and for 14th in the all-around in 2014. She was the 2014 Northern California state champion on vault.

​Video courtesy of USA Gymnastics

​Impact events: Uneven bars and balance beam

Emi Watterson

Australia
Trains at Delta

Watterson hails from Australia where she made her senior debut in 2016. She competed at the 2016 Elite Gym Massilia where she was the second-highest Australian finisher with a 17th-place performance in the all-around. She picked up seventh in the uneven bars final and fifth in the vault final. She competed at the 2016 Australian championships where she finished 10th in the all-around.

​Video courtesy of piibunina

Impact events: Vault and uneven bars

Maleah Pearson

Minnesota
Trains at Twin City Twisters

Pearson is a three-time J.O. national championship qualifier. She tied for 13th at the 2016 J.O. national championships and competed on both vault and beam. She finished third in the all-around at the 2016 Minnesota state championships and earned silver on floor and uneven bars. She earned silver in the all-around at the 2014 Region 4 championships. Pearson was the state and regional champion on the uneven bars in 2014. She earned a fourth-place finish on floor at the 2013 J.O. nationals and was the Region 4 floor champion.

​Video courtesy of Maleah Pearson

​Impact events: Uneven bars and floor exercise



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