Feb. 27, 2007

BERKELEY -

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WHAT'S AHEAD:
The seventh-ranked California men's gymnastics team travels to Los Angeles for the 16th-annual Peter Vidmar Invitational Thursday, March 1, at 7 p.m. The Golden Bears (5-5) are coming off a third-place finish in the Pacific Coast Classic last Saturday. Following the Peter Vidmar Invitational, Cal returns to Berkeley for a dual meet against No. 4 Ohio State at Haas Pavilion on March 10 at 7:30 p.m.

LAST YEAR'S PETER VIDMAR INVITATIONAL:
Cal hopes this year's Peter Vidmar Invitational goes as well as the previous competition did for the Bears. Cal decisively won the meet with a score of 212.750. The Bears outscored their second-place opponent by 29.850 points, and swept all six events. Kyle Litow took first place on floor exercise (9.000), recording a new personal best. Tim McNeill and Colin Christ helped the Bears to a new season-best score of 35.050 on pommel horse, taking first and second place, respectively. On still rings, three Bears recorded above a 9.000, including Tyler Block (9.500), Kyle Brady (9.350) and McNeill (9.150). On vault, Aaron Moy and Brady each posted an 8.800 for Cal, as they tied for first place. Leading Cal on high bar was Kyson Bunthuwong, who won the event with a score of 9.100.

BEARS FINISH THIRD IN PACIFIC COAST CLASSIC:
The Bears came in third in the Pacific Coast Classic last weekend, as they ended with a final score of 214.750. Oklahoma finished in first (218.450) and Stanford came in second (216.650). Cal had four gymnasts finish in the top 15. Junior Tim McNeill, who turned in a 12th-place finish, won two events in the competition. McNeill won pommel horse (9.150) and parallel bars (9.650). McNeill also scored a career-high 9.550 on still rings and a season-high 8.800 on high bar. Junior Colin Christ was the top all-around finisher for the Bears. He came in 10th with a final mark of 41.900. Christ's best event score came on high bar (9.400), which also was a season-high score for Christ. He tied for third in the event. Fellow junior Tyler Block and freshman Bryan Del Castillo were the other two Bears to finish in the top 15. Block came in 13th in the all-around and finished in the top 10 for three events. He came in sixth on still rings (9.450), eighth on parallel bars (9.200) and tied for eighth on high bar (9.250). His scores on still rings and parallel bars were new season bests, while his high bar total was a new career best.

MCNEILL PICKED NATIONAL GYMNAST OF THE WEEK:
Tim McNeill was named the NCAA Division I National Gymnast of the Week last week by the College Gymnastics Association. McNeill earned the honor after his performance in the Big Flip against Stanford on Feb. 17. Against the Cardinal, McNeill finished first overall in three events. On parallel bars, McNeill tied his career-best score of 9.700, which was also the highest score for any event in the competition. The All-American also posted high scores on still rings (9.500) and pommel horse (9.450). His 9.500 on still rings tied his career-best mark for that event.

DEL CASTILLO'S GETTING IT DONE:
Freshman Bryan Del Castillo came into this season as a highly-anticipated recruit. The gymnast that head coach Barry Weiner considers one of his "pocket aces" was last year's junior national champion and a member of the U.S. National team from 2001-06. Through the first four team competitions, the freshman already holds Cal's top scores on floor exercise and vault. Last weekend in the Pacific Coast Classic, Del Castillo came in 15th and scored a 9.350 on floor exercise and 9.000 on vault. He also posted a 9.250 on high bar. In the Stanford Open, Del Castillo recorded a 9.400 on floor exercise. He notched an 8.800 on vault in the Big Flip. Although not a team-high score, Del Castillo also tallied an impressive 8.850 on pommel horse in the Big Flip.

MCNEILL SELECTED FOR NATIONAL TEAM:
Tim McNeill was selected to the U.S. Senior National team after his performance in the Winter Cup. McNeill tied for third among gymnasts competing to make the team with a final total of 38 points, just one behind the second-place finisher. Thirty-one of his points came from parallel bars (21) and still rings (10). The other seven came on pommel horse. McNeill's best total score was on parallel bars (30.950), good enough for second. McNeill finished fourth on still rings with a score of 29.950 and sixth on pommel horse with a final two-day total of 28.750.

MCNEILL NCAA CHAMP:
Last year's top performer, Tim 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.

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.