Feb. 18, 2009

This Week in Cal Gymnastics
The No. 2 California men's gymnastics team will head down the road to the Oakland Convention Center for the Pacific Coast Collegiate Classic on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. Cal will face off against some of the best competition in No. 3 Stanford, No. 6 Illinois, No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Minnesota, and No. 14 Air Force, and an all-star team composed of the top university gymnasts from Japan.

Cal Tops Stanford at Gold Country Classic
The Bears pulled out a 354.250-354.000 win over then-No. 7 Stanford on Feb. 14 at the Gold Country Classic. The Golden Bears remain perfect on the season at 4-0 while the Cardinal drops to 1-3. Cal has faced off against rival Stanford three times this season. The Bears beat Stanford to open the season on Jan. 16 as well as at the Stanford Open on Jan. 24.

Last Time at the PCCC
In 2008, the then-No. 4 California men's gymnastics team took third place at the Pacific Coast Collegiate Classic. The Golden Bears finished the night with 354.400 points behind meet champion No. 1 Stanford (361.650) and No. 3 Oklahoma (359.800). Cal won parallel bars and high bar behind performances from senior Tim McNeill, who won parallel bars with a 15.400, and senior Tyler Block, who finished second on horizontal bar.

Q&A With the Golden Bears
CalBears.com will be running question and answers with the Cal men's gymnastics team all season, this week's Q&A is with first-year law student Kyle Brady, and it can be found by clicking here. Last season, Brady was honored as a senior in the last meet of the year, but he has returned in 2009 for his fourth year of collegiate eligibility, but with a slight twist. Brady is a first-year law student at Cal's Boalt Hall. Brady, who hails from Salinas, Calif., has been an integral part of team, excelling on rings and parallel bars. At last the 2008 NCAA individual championships, he advanced to Saturday evening's individual championships on parallel bars and just missed earning All-America honors with a ninth-place finish of 13.475. CalBears.com chatted with Brady about his interest in law and his experience this year of combining law school and premier collegiate gymnastics.

To see an archive of Q&As, click here or click on the Q&A With the Golden Bears on the men's gymnastics sidebar.

Bears Ink Three Recruits
The California men's gymnastics team signed three recruits to national letters of intent - Donothan Bailey, Jeffrey Langenstein and Steven Lacombe will join the Golden Bears in fall of 2009. Bailey is a current member of the U.S. Junior National Team and a three-time national champion on pommel horse. He was runner-up to current Cal freshman Glen Ishino at the 2007 championships of the U.S. junior division. Langenstein will join the Bears as a solid all-around competitor and his best event is floor exercises. Lacombe can do a double front on vault, and his great strength on rings will make him a fierce collegiate competitor.