Cal Ranked No. 14 in Preseason Coaches' Poll

Article by Cal Athletics  Photo by GoldenBearSports.com
BERKELEY, Calif. – The California women’s gymnastics team earned its highest preseason ranking in school history to start the 2015 season, checking in at No. 14 in the GymInfo preseason coaches’ poll released this week. The No. 14 ranking tops Cal’s previous best of No. 21, set in 2004.
Florida tops the list with 756 points and 19 first-place votes, followed by Oklahoma with 746 points and eight first-place votes. LSU was third with 689 points and two first-place votes, Alabama was fourth and UCLA rounded out the Top 5.
“It’s so nice to be recognized by our peers as one of the top programs in the country,” said Cal head coach Justin Howell. “We have our sights set on finding a way to becoming one of the top 12 teams to compete at Nationals, and we feel like each day we get one day better and one step closer to our goals.”
This is the second consecutive season Cal is ranked in the Top 25 in the preseason poll, eclipsing last year’s No. 22 ranking by eight spots.
Cal will face five opponents ranked in the Top 25 of the preseason poll: UCLA (No. 5), Stanford (10), Oregon State (11), Denver (20) and Arizona (21). Additionally, every opponent Cal will face in 2015 claimed a team or individual berth to 2014 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Regionals competition.
The Golden Bears open 2015 competition on Jan. 4 at the NorCal Classic hosted by UC Davis. The five-team meet also features No. 10 Stanford, San Jose State, UC Davis and Sacramento State.
“This is a great start, but we recognize that we have a lot of work ahead,” Howell said. “We are so excited to start our journey on Jan. 4 at the NorCal Classic at UC Davis. This year is going to be very exciting for our team and our fans!”
The Bears welcome back 12 members of last year’s squad that helped Cal to its second consecutive NCAA Regional berth and a third-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships, the program’s highest finish in school history. The Blue and Gold also welcome four strong freshmen in Toni-Ann Williams, Alicia Gallarzo, Yuleen Sternberg and Arianna Richardson.
Tickets for all regular-season home meets will be available for purchase at the ticket office on Spieker Plaza the day of the meet, beginning approximately one hour before the start of each meet and through the end of the second rotation. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth (12th grade and under) and seniors (age 65 and above). Membership for the popular Cub Club, which allows youth special perks such as an exclusive seating area and membership gifts, will also be available for purchase.
Tickets for NCAA Regionals, which Cal will host in Berkeley on Saturday, April 4, will be available at a later date.

Women's Basketball Travels To LMU For Last Game Before Final Exams

Article posted by California Gazette Photo by Carlos Puma

Los Angeles, CA—The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team travels to Loyola Marymount Saturday evening before taking a one-week break for final exams. Tip at Gersten Pavilion is slated for 7 pm PT.

The Highlanders (5-3) have lost three straight games heading into the weekend, but the most recent loss came in a hard-fought battle at UCLA which saw UCR lead by as many as 10 points in the first half, before the Bruins were able to claw their way to a 57-43 victory.

Brittany Crain extended her string of consecutive double-digit scoring performances to 17 by scoring a game-high 15 points at UCLA. She ranks fifth in the nation overall in scoring at 24.6 points per game, and leads the Big West. As a team, UC Riverside is second in the conference in scoring at 71.9 points per game. They are also ranked in the top three in field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage, all while committing the fewest turnovers per game in the league.

LMU is 2-5 on the year, most recently dropping a pair of road games at Northern Arizona, 82-64, and Seattle, 62-57. The Lions are basically a five-woman team as Deanna Johnson (13.7 ppg), Sophie Taylor (11.4), Taylor Anderson (11.3), Leslie Lopez-Wood (11.1) and Emily Ben-Jumbo (9.0) account for 86 percent of the teams scoring and have played 75 percent of the team's minutes. Each of LMU's top four scorers averages more than 30 minutes per game.

As a team, the Lions are making 40.1 percent of their shots from the field, but just 26.7 percent from long distance. Opponents have taken 50 more free throw attempts than LMU on the year, and committed 20 fewer turnovers.

The Highlanders are 6-3 all-time against Loyola Marymount, but the Lions picked up wins in the two most recent meetings between the clubs back in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons

Casiple and Hallisey Invited to MLS Combine

Article Courtesy: Cal Athletics. Photo Courtesy: GoldenBearSports.com

BERKELEY, Calif. – Two members of the California men’s soccer team earned invitations to the 2015 adidas Major League Soccer Player Combine, MLS announced on Thursday. Senior Golden Bears Seth Casiple and Connor Halliseyclaimed combine invitations, which marks the fourth time in school history that the Bears have sent multiple players to the combine (five in 2010, three in both 2005 and 2013). The combine will take place in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. from Jan. 8-13 ahead of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, in Philadelphia on Thursday, Jan. 15.

"This is a great honor for both Seth and Connor," Cal head coach Kevin Grimes said. "They have had tremendous careers here at Cal. We will miss them for sure, but feel very fortunate that they will have an outstanding opportunity to play at the next level."

A panel of NCAA Division I coaches from every conference and MLS representatives selected a total of 55 college seniors from 41 Division I schools to invite to the combine. This is an initial list of invitees, as MLS will also invite players from Division II, Division III and NAIA schools as well as players from the Generation adidas program and other international invitees, all of whom will be announced at a later date.

The two Bears were starters and integral members of Cal’s run to the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 16 this season and were also instrumental during Cal’s historical 2013 season. Previous Bears’ combine invitees are Calen Carr, Eric Kronberg and Tyson Wahl (2005) as well as Servando Carrasco, Hector Jimenez, Demitrius Omphroy, Davis Paul and A.J. Soares (2010) and Steve Birnbaum, Alec Sundly and Ryan Neil (2013).

Casiple, one of the team’s co-captains in 2014, had another very successful season in central midfield for the Bears. He finished the year with one goal and seven assists in 19 games played, all of which were starts. In addition to his second team National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Far West selection, Casiple also was named to the All-Pac-12 first team and was named as an honorable mention as a Pac-12 All-Academic. The Rocklin, Calif. native has made 73 career appearances (72 starts) for the Golden Bears, posting six goals and 27 assists for a total of 39 points. His 27 assists rank fourth all-time in school history behind Mike Nieto (40 from 1982-85), Paul (35 from 2007-10) and Jimenez (34 from 2006-10).

Hallisey, a MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist, NSCAA All Far-West first team selection, an All-Pac-12 first team selection and Pac-12 All-Academic second team selection led the Bears in points, with 30, posting nine goals and a team-high 12 assists this year for the Golden Bears in 19 appearances, all of which were starts during California’s run to the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 16. The senior had a breakout season offensively for the Bears, finishing second in the Pac-12 in points behind Pac-12 Player of the Year, Oregon State’s Khiry Shelton (31 points). Hallisey tallied a goal and an assist in Cal’s NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament Round of 16 loss to UCLA on Nov. 30. The Granite Bay, Calif. native capped his career in Berkeley by posting the fifth most points in a season in school history and the most since Paul equaled his feat in 2010. Hallisey appeared in 70 games (53 starts) over his four year career in Berkeley, scoring 12 goals and notching 18 assists for a total of 42 points.

Cal Men's Swimmers Visit Georgia Invitational

Article by Courtesy: Cal Athletics Photo by Tim Binning/TheSwimPictures.com
BERKELEY – The Cal men’s swimming team, winners of three of the last four NCAA team titles, will have a stern mid-season test when the Golden Bears travel to the prestigious Georgia Fall Invitational Friday-Sunday, Dec. 5-7, in Athens, Ga. David Durden’s squad will be competing against athletes from host Georgia, plus swimmers from Auburn, Florida State, Penn State and Virginia (Live Stats available by clicking here).
Durden’s talented team, which is 3-0 so far this season with victories over Pacific, Hawaii and Wisconsin – has won 18 straight dual meets over the last three and a half seasons; and features defending national champion (100 and 200 backstroke) Ryan Murphy. Also included among the 2014-15 Bears are 2014 NCAA relay champions Seth Stubblefield, Tyler Messerschmidt, and senior breaststroker Chuck Katis.
Katis, who transferred last January from Harvard, swam the breaststroke leg on Cal’s 2014 NCAA champion 200 medley relay that set an American record, then produced the second-fastest time ever (50.40) on his breaststroke leg of the 400 medley relay that captured the national crown. Individually, Katis placed fourth in the 100 breast and fifth in the 200 breast at last year’s NCAA meet. He will have a busy schedule this weekend in Georgia – competing in the 200 IM and the breaststroke leg of the 400 medley relay on Friday, the breaststroke leg of the 200 medley relay and the 100 breast on Saturday and the 200 breast on Sunday.
The Bears will again vie for an NCAA crown in 2015 after winning national championships in 2011, 2012 and 2014 under Durden. Besides returning Murphy, Stubblefield, Messerschmidt, and Katis, several other Cal swimmers have shined during Pac-12 and NCAA championship competition in recent years, including junior Josh Prenot, who has been the Pac-12 400 IM champion the past two seasons. The Bears also feature a stellar 2014-15 freshman class