Feb. 5, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

BERKELEY - This Week in California Gymnastics
Seven Golden Bears - seniors Tim McNeill, Kyle Brady, Tyler Block and Colin Christ, juniors Kyson Bunthuwong and Evan Roth and freshman Kyle Bunthuwong - will participate in the Winter Cup in Las Vegas. Although all of the top performers from most NCAA teams will be entered, it is not considered an NCAA competition. The competition is used to select members of the United States National Team for 2008. Competitors earn points determined by placement on each event and also placement in the all-around. The point totals determine who makes the national team. The gymnasts will compete Thursday and the top finishers will advance to Saturday's finals.

Projected Events
Tyler Block: Still rings, high bar, parallel bars Kyle Brady: Still rings, parallel bars Kyle Bunthuwong: All-around Kyson Bunthuwong: All-around Colin Christ: Pommel horse, parallel bars, high bar, still rings Tim McNeill: Pommel horse, parallel bars, high bar Evan Roth: Floor exercises, vault, still rings

Last Year's Winter Cup
Junior Tim McNeill was selected to the United States Senior National team after his performance in the Winter Cup after the Men's Program Committee chose him for one of the four sports despite not receiving one of the three automatic berths. McNeill tied for third among gymnasts competing to make the team with a total score of 38 points, one point behind the second-place finisher. Thirty-one of his points came from parallel bars (21) and still rings (10). The other seven points came on pommel horse, one of the events that McNeill won the NCAA title last season. Although he did not qualify for the finals, Tyler Block tied for 10th on rings (14.800) and took 27th on parallel bars (14.200) against the toughest competition in the country.

Scouting the Competition
With 2004 Olympians, members of the U.S. Senior and Junior National Teams participating, the Winter Cup represents the most difficult competition of the season for the Golden Bears. Cal will face off against 2007 U.S. All-Around Champion David Durante, 2004 Olympic all-around champion Paul Hamm and Three-time Olympian and 2004 Olympic team silver-medalist Blaine Wilson. The Bears will also see MPSF foes Sho Nakamori and David Sender of Stanford as well as NCAA opponent Jonathan Horton, who took first place on floor at last year's NCAA Championships. The event showcases national talent, represents the beginning of the Olympic year for men's gymnastics and evaluates the current senior men's team so that seven gymnasts can be selected for the senior team.

Moving On Up
The Golden Bears are currently ranked third in the nation after defeating Nebraska on Jan. 26 and top-ranked Stanford on Jan. 18. Cal's parallel bars team is tops in the country with Tyler Block and Kyson Bunthuwong being ranked third and fifth, respectively. The pommel horse crew is also first in the nation with Kyson Bunthuwong second the individual rankings while Cal's rings and high bar teams are third and second, respectively. Cal was tabbed the No. 5 team in the country, according to the College Gymnastics Association's preseason poll.

Kyson Bunthuwong Named Jan. 22 Player of the Week
Junior Kyson Bunthuwong won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's Player of the Week and Cal's Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week awards for the week of Jan. 22. Bunthuwong won the all-around with his score of 88.45 on Jan. 18, to help California to a win over rival and top-ranked Stanford, Cal's first meet victory over the Cardinal since 2005. This is the first time since 2006 that a Golden Bear has been honored by the MPSF as player of the week.

Stanford Open Recap
The No. 4 California men's gymnastics team (2-1) took second at the Stanford Open on Jan. 26, finishing with 357.900 points behind first-place No. 3 Stanford (361.350) and ahead of Nebraska (333.850). The Bears excelled on pommel horse, where they took their first event of the night with 58.200 points. Junior Kyson Bunthuwong won pommel hose with a 14.800 with seniors Tim McNeill and Colin Christ taking second and third, respectively. Senior Tyler Block helped Cal to a win on still rings, notching a meet-high and new personal best 15.750. Senior Tim McNeill led the Bears to a win on parallel bars with his first-place performance, scoring a career-high 15.750 on the event.

Upset Central
Then-ranked No. 5 Cal defeated No. 1 Stanford at home Jan. 18, the Bears' first meet victory over the Cardinal since the 2005 season. The teams were tied going into the final two rotations and Cal's strong performance on the parallel bars gave it the win, 347.25-346.75. Junior Kyson Bunthuwong took first all-around at 88.45 and freshman Kyle Bunthuwong, in his collegiate debut, took second at 86.45. The Bears took first and second on pommel horse with Kyson Bunthuwong placing first (15.05) and Tim McNeill taking second (14.40). Cal put forth a stunning performance on parallel bars, taking second through seventh while Stanford won floor, vault and high bar.

The McNeill Report
Senior and three-time NCAA Champion Tim McNeill will be updating a blog this season. In his entries, McNeill gives updates regarding the happenings of the men's gymnastics team as the Bears progress through the season. To read McNeill's blog, go to the men's gymnastics page on CalBears.com

Former Cal Gymnast Caleb Kirk Wins Scholarship Award
Caleb Kirk, a four-year letter winner on the Cal gymnastics team, was awarded the Pac-10 Conference's Living the Dream Scholarship, it was announced Jan. 17. The award recognizes student-athletes who participated on their school's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and also demonstrated leadership outside of athletics, and the winners receive $5,000 for post-graduate study. Kirk helped lead the team to its highest event score at the 2007 NCAA Championships when he posted a 9.45 on rings, which equaled his career high. Kirk also earned two team awards - Big C and Most Improved - after his freshman campaign in 2004. Kirk was a two-time Academic All-MPSF scholar-athlete and received the Balanced Man Scholarship. Kirk demonstrated his leadership through outreach and service through SAAC and other campus organizations.

Where Cal Ranks Nationally:
Team: No. 3
Floor: No. 9		Pommel: No. 1		Rings: No. 3
Vault: No. 10		Parallel Bars: No. 1	High Bar: No. 2
Individual National Rankings:
Kyson Bunthuwong: 		No. 4 all-around		No. 2 on pommel
			No. 5 (t) on parallel bars	No. 2 on high bar
Tim McNeill:		No. 3 on pommel		No. 3 on parallel bars
No. 18 on high bar
Daniel Geri:		No. 10 on pommel
Tyler Block:		No. 3 on rings		No. 4 on parallel bars
			No. 6 on high bar
Kyle Brady: 		No. 18 (t) on rings
Kyle Bunthuwong:		No. 7 all-around		No. 9 on floor
Colin Christ:		No. 5 (t) on parallel bars	No. 18 on pommel