Cal Places Third at NCAA Team Qualifier, Advances to Finals

April 6, 2006

NORMAN, Okla. - The fifth-ranked California men's gymnastics team (9-9) posted a team score of 213.900 Thursday evening to take third place at session two of the NCAA Championships team qualifier, which is being held at the University of Oklahoma's Lloyd Noble Center. Six teams out of a total of 12 from today's competition advance to Friday's NCAA Team Finals. Teams advancing from the first session include Stanford (215.900), Penn State (213.450) and Iowa (212.425), while teams advancing from the second session include, Oklahoma (217.225), Illinois (214.775) and Cal (213.900).

Oklahoma took first place at session two, followed by Illinois, Cal, Michigan (208.850), Nebraska (204.925) and Temple (196.925).

On the high bar, the Bears recorded a new season-high team score of 37.775, which was the second-highest team score of the competition. Freshman Kyson Bunthuwong and Jason Pierce both posted a 9.400 for Cal. Cal's MPSF all-around champion, sophomore Tim McNeill, recorded a 9.375, while Colin Christ tallied a team-high score of 9.550, placing third.

McNeill won the parallel bars with a score of 9.600, leading the Bears to a second place finish on that event with a team score of 36.675. Christ came in sixth place with a 9.100, while sophomore Tyler Block came in seventh with a 9.000. Senior co-captain Shawn Mowry came in eighth with an 8.975.

McNeill led the Bears in scoring on vault and to a third-place team finish, after recording a 9.150, placing ninth. Sophomore Aaron Moy followed with a 9.000, while Block recorded an 8.875. Mowry chipped in with an 8.700.

Cal recorded a team score of 35.775 on the floor exercise, with three Bears recording above a 9.000. Moy recorded a new season-best score of 9.200 on the apparatus, which tied him for third place. Senior co-captain Chris Rodriguez came in fifth after tallying a 9.150, while Bunthuwong chipped in with a 9.025. Mowry recorded an 8.400 for the Bears.

McNeill also took top honors on the pommel horse after scoring an 8.900. Bunthuwong tied for fourth with an 8.600, while Christ came in sixth with an 8.500.

Caleb Kirk led the Bears on the still rings, placing fifth with a 9.000. Sean Bryan and Kyle Brady tied for eighth after posting an 8.900.

Cal will compete in the NCAA Finals Friday at 7 p.m. (CST). The competition will come to a close on Saturday with the NCAA Event Finals, which crowns the NCAA individual event champions and All-Americans.

To qualify for Saturday's individual event finals, an individual must finish in the top 10 on his respective apparatus in Friday night's competition with no more than three gymnasts per school qualifying in each event.

To follow the action live on Friday night, visit http://www.nmnathletics.com/fls/300/championship/2006_home.html

Session Two Results:
1. Oklahoma (217.225)
2. Illinois (214.775)
3. California (213.900)
4. Michigan (208.850)
5. Nebraska (204.925)
6. Temple (196.925)

Complete Cal Results:
High Bar:
3. Colin Christ (9.550)
6. Kyson Bunthuwong (9.450)
8. Jason Pierce (9.400)
9T. Tim McNeill (9.375)

Pommel Horse:
1. Tim McNeill (8.900)
4T. Kyson Bunthuwong (8.600)
6T. Colin Christ (8.500)
27. Jason Pierce (7.550)

Floor Exercise:
3T. Aaron Moy (9.200)
5. Chris Rodriguez (9.150)
12. Kyson Bunthuwong (9.025)
20T. Shawn Mowry (8.400)

Parallel Bars:
1. Tim McNeill (9.600)
6. Colin Christ (9.100)
7. Tyler Block (9.000)
8. Shawn Mowry (8.975)

Still Rings:
5. Caleb Kirk (9.000)
8T. Sean Bryan (8.900)
8T. Kyle Brady (8.900)
34. Tyler Block (7.600)

Vault:
9. Tim McNeill (9.150)
14T. Aaron Moy (9.000)
19. Tyler Block (8.875)
26. Shawn Mowry (8.700)