Jan. 23, 2007

BERKELEY -

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WHAT'S AHEAD:
The No. 13 California men's gymnastics team travels across the bay this week and will compete in the Stanford Open, Saturday at the Burnham Pavilion and Ford Center. The Golden Bears will be looking for revenge after losing to Stanford last week in the season opener. Cal will be competing against the Cardinal, Nebraska and Washington. In addition, some top club teams and high school gymnasts will also be competing over the course of the weekend event. The highest scoring gymnasts from the club teams will form an all-star team and will compete in the NCAA Session on Saturday. Following the Stanford Open, the Bears have the following week off, and then head to Las Vegas for the Winter Cup, which takes place from Feb. 8-10.

THE OPPONENTS:
Stanford returns 12 letterwinners from last year and welcome four newcomers. Stanford finished the 2006 season with a 26-6 overall record and a second-place MPSF finish. Head coach Thom Glielmi is in his fifth year at Stanford and currently boasts a 53-35 record. The Stanford Open will mark the third consecutive week on the road for Nebraska. Last week the Huskers squared off against MPSF rivals, No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 17 Air Force. Nebraska improved its team score in the second meet of the season, finishing with an overall total of 203.300, after notching an 189.70 in the opener. Senior Jason Wassung won the third all-around title of his career last week with a score of 50.35.

LAST YEAR'S COMPETITION:
Cal took second place in last year's Stanford Open. The Bears finished with a final score of 206.425. They beat this year's opponents, Nebraska and Washington, as well as two all-star teams. Tim McNeil took first on parallel bars with a score of 9.100, while teammate Shawn Mowry placed fourth with an 8.875. The Bears placed first on the pommel horse with a score of 33.850. McNeill also tied for second place on pommel horse with then all-star team member, now Stanford gymnast, Eric Hergenrader, with a score of 8.650. Two-time All-American Colin Christ placed fourth with an 8.600, while Kyson Bunthuwong took fifth with an 8.500. Tyler Block, an NCAA All-American on the still rings, placed third on the event with a score of 9.200. On floor exercise, Mowry, last year's senior captain, came in fourth with an 8.600 and teammate Mark Freeman tied for sixth place with an 8.300.

TOUGH SEASON OPENER FOR BEARS:
Cal was defeated by the Cardinal, 205.100-196.000, in the season opener last Friday at Haas Pavilion. The top performances for the Bears were sophomore Kyson Bunthuwong's 9.250 on parallel bars and junior Aaron Moy's 9.200 on floor exercise. In addition, freshman Bryan Del Castillo, making his debut at Cal, turned in a score of 9.000 on floor exercise. The high scores from Bunthuwong and Moy helped Cal win its two events of the meet, floor exercise and parallel bars. The Bears just edged past Stanford on floor exercise, winning the event, 34.650-34.600. The win on parallel bars was a little bit more decisive for Cal (35.200-34.150). Junior Tim McNeill, the reigning NCAA champion on pommel horse, turned in a score of 8.350 in that event, which was a team high. McNeill turned in a solid performance on still rings as well, notching a score of 9.100, just behind Bunthuwong's 9.250 for the best score of the night overall for Cal.

MCNEILL NCAA CHAMP:
The top performer for the Bears in 2006 was junior Tim McNeill. McNeill won the NCAA Championship on pommel horse and also became a two-time All-American last year. He went into the NCAA Championships with a lot of momentum as he captured the all-around title in the MPSF Championships with a combined score of 55.325. In the conference meet, McNeill posted scores above 9.000 in five of the six events. He took two individual titles on pommel horse (9.325) and parallel bars (9.700). His score on parallel bars was not only a career-high, but it was also the highest score for any event in the MPSF Championships.

THE NUCLEUS:
Cal head coach Barry Weiner expects big numbers and solid competition from what he considers the five-person nucleus on the team, juniors Tim McNeill, Colin Christ, Mark Freeman, Tyler Block and Aaron Moy. In addition to McNeill's success last year, Christ, a two-time All-American on the high bar, set a new career best on the high bar in the NCAA Championships (9.600) and posted a 9.550 in the NCAA Qualifier. Freeman, who was injured for half of last season, will be a key to the team reaching its full potential. Two of his season-high performances came in the Stanford Open, in which he earned a 8.900 on still rings and scored 8.650 on the vault. Block, an NCAA freshman All-American on the still rings, set a new career best on still rings last season against Penn State with a score of 9.725. Moy reached a season-high performance of 9.200 on floor exercise in the NCAA Qualifier. He followed that performance in the NCAA Championships with a score of 9.175. His overall season best score came against Stanford on vault (9.300).

NCAA TRADITION:
California has a rich history in the NCAA championships. The Bears have had 173 individual top 10 finishers since 1948, including 24 national champions. Cal has finished in the top five at NCAAs 16 times since 1959, including four times this decade. The Bears boast four national championships - 1968, '75, '97 and '98.

Cal to Host 2007 MPSF Championships:
The 2007 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships for men's gymnastics will be hosted by California on Saturday, March 31 at Haas Pavilion. The MPSF meet will feature five teams - Air Force, California, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Stanford. At last year's national meet, three of the top five teams came from the MPSF. Oklahoma won the NCAA title, Stanford finished third and Cal was fifth.