June 29, 2010

BERKELEY - Barry Weiner, who guided the University California men's gymnastics team to a pair of NCAA championships during his 19 seasons as head coach, announced his retirement from the position Tuesday.

"Barry has been an exemplary head coach who elevated our men's gymnastics program to a consistently elite level for almost two full decades," Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour said. "The number of team and individual national champions he has produced is unsurpassed in our history, and he has been a tremendous contributor to the history of men's gymnastics at Cal."

Barbour said a search for Weiner's replacement is already underway.

Weiner began his tenure in Berkeley in 1992 and led the Bears to team national championships in 1997 and 1998. Overall, he had a total of 11 top-five NCAA finishes, including a fifth-place finish in 2010. Weiner coached 14 NCAA individual champions, as well as 90 All-Americans. He compiled an overall record of 266-111-1.

"I'm very proud of the work we have done over the last 20 years here at Cal - not just the great teams and champions, but I'm proud of all the great people who have left their mark," Weiner said. "Mostly, I am proud of the contributions that our student-athletes have made and continue to make in all walks of life. I have been very fortunate to have spent 19 great years coaching at Cal. I am going to miss working with all of the great kids and people who make up the Cal community."

During his final season as head coach, Weiner was honored as the MPSF Coach of the Year for the sixth time after leading Cal to a second-place standing at the conference meet, just 0.100 points behind winner Oklahoma. In addition, Glen Ishino was lauded as the MPSF Gymnast of the Year. At the national championships, Bryan del Castillo was fourth in the all-around, with Ishino taking fifth. In the individual championships, four Bears - Del Castillo, Christian Monteclaro, Jim Kerry and Ishino - earned All-America status on their events.

Weiner's most recent individual NCAA champion came in 2009, when Evan Roth won the title on still rings, the same year Weiner was a co-recipient of the Honor Coach Award, which is recognized as the most prestigious coaching award in collegiate gymnastics.. Weiner's most accomplished pupil was Senior National Team member Tim McNeill, who captured a school-record five individual national crowns - three NCAA titles on pommel horse and two more on parallel bars.

The results of Weiner's hard work and dedication first paid dividends in '97 when he was named National Coach of the Year after leading the Bears to a perfect 17-0 regular season and the team's first NCAA team title since 1975. The next year, Cal swept through the entire '98 season without a loss en route to its second consecutive team championship with Weiner earning National Coach of the Year honors once again.

Weiner took the reins of the men's gymnastics program in 1992 after Cal's worst ever season (1-18) in 1991. Under his guidance, Cal rebounded to post a 15-13 dual meet record, placed third in the conference and reached the NCAA Regionals, where the team managed a seventh-place finish. Six individuals from that squad qualified for the NCAA Championships, including All-American Jason Bertram.

Before arriving at Cal in September 1991, Weiner maintained a lengthy association with the U.S. Junior National Gymnastics Program. Over an 11-year period, he coached 15 Junior National Team members, including two Junior National all-around champions.

Weiner also coached the U.S. Junior National Team against Hungary in 1988 at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. In 1987, he led the Junior Pan American team in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and he has been a U.S. coach at additional international competitions in England and Hungary. In addition, Weiner served as an assistant coach for the 2000 U.S. Olympic team.

On the competitive level, Weiner was a two-time MVP at Temple University from 1968-70. A 1968 NCAA event finalist in the parallel bars and floor exercise, he helped Temple finish fourth in the country in '68 and led the Owls to a third-place national finish in 1970. Weiner also earned gold medals at the 1968 Maccabiah Games in the floor exercise and horizontal bar.

A native of Philadelphia, he earned a bachelor's degree from Temple in 1970.

Barry Weiner By the Numbers:
Overall record: 266-111-1 (.705)
Team NCAA championships: 2 (1997, 1998)
Top-five NCAA finishes: 11
Individual NCAA championships: 14
Conference team championships: 3 (1996, 1998, 2004)
All-Americans: 90
Winning seasons: 17
Undefeated seasons: 4 (1997, 1998, 2000, 2001)