No. 7 Cal Hosts No. 3 Ohio State in Second Home Meet of the Season

March 6, 2007

BERKELEY -

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

WHAT'S AHEAD:
The seventh-ranked California men's gymnastics team hosts third-ranked Ohio State in the Golden Bears' second home meet of the season Saturday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m. Cal (6-5) is coming off a victory over conference rival No. 16 Air Force in the Peter Vidmar Invitational last Thursday. Following the home meet against the Buckeyes, Cal heads to Penn State, the site of the 2007 NCAA Championships, for a dual meet against the second-ranked Nittany Lions March 17 at 7 p.m. ET

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
Ohio State heads to Berkeley with one-on-one victories over No. 6 Illinois on Jan. 27 , No. 12 Temple on Feb. 3 and No. 4 Oklahoma last Saturday. The Buckeyes knocked off the Sooners, 218.650 - 213.550, in Norman Okla. Ohio State will undoubtedly be riding high this Saturday after handing Oklahoma its first home loss in seven years.

LAST YEAR VS OHIO STATE:
Cal came to Columbus last year to face Ohio State and Oklahoma in a tri-meet. The Bears were ranked seventh for that competition as well, while the Sooners were ranked first and the Buckeyes second. Cal came in third with a team score of 210.700. Oklahoma won the meet (216.550) with Ohio State taking second (215.900). Tim McNeill took second place on pommel horse after recording a 9.000. McNeill placed in the top three in other events, as he took second on parallel bars (9.250) and finished third on high bar with a 9.350. Aaron Moy turned in a strong perfomance on floor exercise, recording an 8.900. The Bears set a season-best team score on still rings after posting a 36.55, good enough for second. Tyler Block posted a 9.550 in that event, which earned him a third-place finish.

BEARS BEAT AIR FORCE IN PETER VIDMAR INVITATIONAL:
The Bears defeated the Falcons, 210.450 - 192.300 last Thursday in the Peter Vidmar Invitational. The Bears swept all six events. Their top event score of the night came on still rings, posting a 36.850. Junior Kyle Brady scored a new career high (9.400) to lead Cal in the event. Junior Tim McNeill led the way for the Bears on pommel horse, as he tied his season-best score of 9.450. Junior Colin Christ tied his career best on parallel bars with a 9.350. He was one of three bears to score over a 9.000 in the event. Freshman Daniel Geri also scored a new career high (9.150) and McNeill turned in an even 9.000.

BEARS IN THE RANKINGS:
In the men's national individual rankings, Tim McNeill is ranked in the top 20 for three events. McNeill, the reigning NCAA champion on pommel horse, is currently ranked first in that event with an average score of 9.450. He is also fourth on parallel bars with an average score of 9.483. The third event that McNeill placed in the top 20 was still rings (17th, 9.383). Block is currently ranked 14th on still rings (9.417). He is 18th on parallel bars (9.067). Junior Colin Christ is 20th on high bar with an average of 9.033.

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. Del Castillo is currently ranked ninth in the national individual rankings on floor exercise with an average score of 9.417. Through five team competitions, the freshman holds Cal's top season scores on floor exercise and vault. Last weekend in the Peter Vidmar Invitational, Del Castillo set a new career best on floor exercise, posting a 9.500. The previous week in the Pacific Coast Classic, Del Castillo came in 15th in the all-around 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 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.