March 6, 2009

This Week in Cal Men's Gymnastics
The No. 3 California men's gymnastics team plays host this week to No. 6 Ohio State on Friday evening at Haas Pavilion. The Golden Bears (8-1 overall) lead the Buckeyes (3-4; 1-5 Big Ten) in the all-time match-up, 14-11. This will be the final home meet for Cal's four seniors - first-year law student Kyle Brady, Kyson Bunthuwong, Justin Franklin and Evan Roth.

Recently in Men's Gymnastics
The Bears have had two weeks off from competition - their last meet was the Pacific Coast Classic on Feb. 21 at the Oakland Convention Center. Cal finished ahead of No. 4 Michigan (fourth - 354.200), No. 6 Illinois (fifth - 350.550), No. 14 Air Force (seventh - 324.500), and No. 5 Minnesota (sixth 00 344.500), but behind No. 3 Stanford (second - 326.900), and a team of Japanese all-stars (first - 359.450). At the annual meet, the team set a program-best score on floor at 59.900 and a 2009 best on rings at 60.400. Freshman Glen Ishino took second in the all-around while sophomore Kyle Bunthuwong finished third all-around at 88.950, which was a new career high.

Ishino Shines at PCC
Ishino led the Bears to a third-place finish at the PCC, with a second-place finish on all-around out of 77 gymnasts competing with a 89.600. He won pommel horse with a 15.200 for his highest individual event finish of the night. Ishino established four new career highs on rings (14.950), parallel bars (14.850), high bar (14.800) and with his all-around score. A Look at the Senior Class

Last Time Against the Buckeyes
In 2008, Cal earned its second dual meet victory of the year with a 355.200-351.000 victory over No. 7 Ohio State on Feb. 16 at OSU's St. John Arena. Kyle Bunthuwong won the all-around with 88.250, which was 3.800 points ahead of the second place finisher. The Bears won pommel horse, rings, parallel bars and high bar to win the meet. Cal took four of the top six spots on parallel bars to help it win the event, 60.200-58.400. The best event of the night for California was horizontal bar, where five Golden Bears finished in the top six to give Cal the win, 59.700-56.100. Eric Haeussler won his first event of the 2008 campaign with a 15.550 while Kyle Bunthuwong finished in second (14.800).

Beaks 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.

A Look at the Class of 2009
The Bears will lose four gymnasts to graduation and eligibility fulfillment this year in first-year law student Kyle Brady, seniors Kyson Bunthuwong, Justin Franklin and Evan Roth.

Kyle Brady:
Kyle Brady returned in 2009 for his fourth year of collegiate eligibility, but as 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.

Kyson Bunthuwong:
Co-captain this year, Kyson Bunthuwong is the backbone of Cal's arsenal in the all-around and is a two-time All-American in parallel bars. He placed eighth in the all-around at last year's NCAA championships and advanced to the individual championships on parallel bars, on which he finished 10th in the country with a 13.200. After graduation, Kyson will continue training with hopes of competing in 2012 Olympics in London. Eventually, he would like to do volunteer work abroad and start his own athletics clothing line. Kyson is majoring in political economies of industrialized societies.

Justin Franklin:
Senior Justin Franklin joined the California men's gymnastics team as a junior in 2008, and has quickly made himself an integral part of the Golden Bear lineup. He is an important member of the pommel horse team, competing on the event for most of the meets for the Bears. Justin is majoring in Legal Studies. After graduation, he plans to travel around the world for the summer, visiting places like Brazil, Jamaica, Greece, Italy, Kenya, Japan, and Miami. After his trip, he hopes to go to grad school on the East Coast to get his Ph.D. in education.

Evan Roth:
Evan Roth transferred after competing at Temple as a freshman and is co-captain this year. Roth has been a stalwart on rings and vault for the Golden Bears, leading the team on vault at the 2008 NCAA Championships with a 16.150 in the qualifier and 15.600 in the championships. Following graduation, Evan plays to begin a career as a post production engineer, with the intention to work on film and television, where he would be responsible for sound design as well as many other aspects of professional audio. Roth will graduate with a degree in music, with an emphasis in composition