May 26, 2009

BERKELEY - California men's gymnastics head coach Barry Weiner was given with the 2009 Honor Coach award by the College Gymnastics Association. Recognized as the most prestigious coaching award in collegiate gymnastics, Weiner earned this year's accolade along with Mike Burns of Minnesota. The pair was honored at the 2009 NCAA Championships.

Weiner, who just completed his 18th year at the helm of the Golden Bears, is the fourth Cal coach in program history to be recognized. Charles A. Pease (1970), Charles Keeney (1974) and Harold Frey (1976) are the other three coaches. After leading the Golden Bears to a 17-8 overall record this season, Weiner now boasts a career record of 255-97-1 at Cal.

Weiner led the Bears to two team national championships in 1997 and 1998. He owns a total of 10 top-5 national finishes in the last 14 years, including this year's fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. He has also coached 14 NCAA individual champions. The most recent individual championship was this season, when Evan Roth won the title on still rings. Weiner coached current graduate intern Tim McNeill to five individual national championships - three NCAA titles on pommel horse and two on parallel bars.

In addition to his success at Cal, Weiner has produced champions in the junior program as well as coached the 2000 U.S. Olympic team in Sydney, Australia. When Weiner arrived in Berkeley in 1992, the program had seen its worst year with a 1-18 record. Under his guidance, the Bears produced a 15-13 result in Weiner's first year in addition to having six gymnasts qualify for NCAA individual Championships.

At this season's national championships, Roth secured the 29th individual title in program history. Seven Bears competed in the 10 events, combining for nine All-America honors. The 2009 squad had 13 top-10 individual finishes, which is the first time since 1959 that the Bears have achieve this feat and only the second time in program history. With this year's fourth-place finish, Weiner has led the Bears to 10 top-five finishes in the past 12 years.