July 1, 2009

BERKELEY - With athletes and coaches participating in basketball, swimming and water polo, the University of California will be well represented at the 25th World University Games, which run July 1-12 in Belgrade, Serbia.

The Golden Bears will have a significant presence in men's water polo, where the U.S. squad is led by Cal head coach Kirk Everist. He has four Bears on his roster in Trent Calder, Zac Monsees, Mike Sample and Zach White. Team USA will be in Group D along with Hungary, Japan and Poland. The first match will be July 2 with the medal games on July 12.

Senior guard Alexis Gray-Lawson has earned a spot on the U.S. women's basketball team, and the Americans are paired in Group A with Serbia, France and Great Britain.

Women's water polo freshman Emily Csikos will be a key factor for Team Canada at the games.

In men's swimming, the Bears to look for are Will Copeland and Sean Mahoney on the U.S. squad, as well as international competitors Guy Barnea (Israel), Nick Ferrif (New Zealand), and Damir Dugonjic and Jernej Godec (Slovenia).

Cal women swimmers in the pool in Serbia will be Madison Kennedy, Lauren Rogers and Amanda Sims for Team USA, Hannah Wilson for Hong Kong and Sara Isakovic for Slovenia.

In addition, Bojana Bobusic will represent Australia in women's tennis, and Martin Maric, who recently captured the NCAA discus title, will compete for his native Croatia at the games.

Approximately 9,000 athletes from 140 countries will compete in 15 sports and 208 disciplines during the games. Additional information, including complete schedules and results, can be found on the World University Games website.

Additional Summer Competition
Many other Cal athletes will also be in competition throughout the summer. Among them are former Golden Bears shot putter Kristin Heaston, who will represent the United States at the World Track & Field Championships in Berlin Aug. 15-23, and Angie Pressey, who is with the U.S. volleyball team at the Pan American Cup in Miami through July 4. Sophomore softball player Valerie Arioto will play for the U.S. team at the Japan Cup July 31-Aug. 2,

U.S. trials for the World Championships in swimming will take place July 7-11 in Indianapolis and a number of Bears will be vying for spots on the team, including Dana Vollmer, the 2009 NCAA Swimmer of the Year, and Nathan Adrian, the 2009 Pac-10 Swimmer of the Year. A full list of competitors can be found on the USA Swimming website.

In men's water polo, John Mann has been selected as an alternate for the U.S. team at the World Championships, where Vladislav Andreyev (Kazakhstan) and Luka Saponjic (Serbia) will also play for their native countries.

Kyle Bunthuwong and former Cal gymnast Tim McNeill will participate at the Japan Cup in mid-July. The meet will feature gymnasts from the top countries in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Junior Megan Jesolva will be part of the U.S. under-23 women's soccer team that is traveling to England for two matches July 3-7.

Check CalBears.com for more updates throughout the summer for information on summer activities for Cal athletes.