March 28, 2007

BERKELEY -

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WHAT'S AHEAD:
California will host the 2007 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships for men's gymnastics 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. Following the conference meet, the Golden Bears will have an intrasquad meet on Saturday, April 7, at 6 p.m. at the Golden Bear Rec Center to prepare for the NCAA Championships. The national championships will take place from April 12-14 at Penn State.

LAST YEAR IN THE MPSF CHAMPIONSHIPS:
In last year's MPSF Championships, hosted by Air Force, Cal finished third. Oklahoma won the meet and Stanford finished second. Tim McNeill won the all-around championship, with a combined score of 55.325 and posted above a 9.000 on five out of six events. He took two individual event titles, winning pommel horse with a score of 9.325 and took top honors on parallel bars (9.700). McNeill's parallel bars score was the highest total of the night in any event. On parallel bars, the Bears posted a meet-high score of 37.350. McNeill led Cal with a 9.700, while Kyson Bunthuwong recorded a 9.275 and placed third. Tyler Block helped out with a 9.250. On high bar, four Cal gymnasts recorded a 9.000 or above. Colin Christ led the Bears with 9.375 and placed fourth. McNeill recorded a 9.050, while Bunthuwong posted a 9.050.

A LOOK BACK AT THE HISTORY OF THE MPSF CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The Bears have seen a lot of success in the MPSF Championships. Cal has won the meet twice (1998 and 2004). From 2000-2005, Oklahoma and Cal finished in the top two every year. Stanford broke the streak when it took second last year. In 2005, junior Tyler Block took top honors on parallel bars with a 9.350. The Bears best all-around team score is 230.625, which they earned in 2000. Oklahoma's 230.675 was just a little better as the Sooner took first that year. Since 1993, Oklahoma was won the team title eight times, including the past two.

BEARS IN THE RANKINGS:
In the men's national individual rankings, Tim McNeill is ranked in the top 20 for three events, one of which he is ranked first. 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 ranked third on parallel bars with an average score of 9.467. The third event that McNeill placed in the top 20 was still rings (16th, 9.383). Tyler Block is currently ranked 10th on still rings (9.417). Freshman Bryan Del Castillo is currently 15th on floor exercise (9.250).

MIGHTY MCNEILL:
Tim McNeill has had an impressive 2007 season thus far. In Cal's last match, against Ohio State on March 10, McNeill posted two new career-high scores. He recorded career bests on pommel horse and still rings, both by the score of 9.650. The 9.650 scores were the highest scores for any Cal player in the meet. He also scored a season best of 9.000 on high bar. Earlier this season, 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. McNeill was also named the NCAA Division I National Gymnast of the Week on Feb. 22 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 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).

BLOCK'S BEEN A CONSISTENT CONTRIBUTOR:
Tyler Block has been posting high scores for Cal all season. His best event thus far has been still rings where Block has scored over a 9.000 in all but one meet. Also on still rings, Block has hit his season high of 9.450 twice (Pacific Coast Classic, Ohio State). In the Pacific Coast Classic, Block recorded a career-best score of 9.250 on high bar. On parallel bars, he has notched scores of 9.000 or higher three times this season.

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. In five team competitions, the freshman holds Cal's top season scores on floor exercise and vault. 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.