CGB Hall of Fame: (1) Russell White v. (4) Nathan Adrian

We've made it into the Third round of the CGB Hall of Fame and we're so close to crowning our electees for this year. We've got some great match-ups to kick-off this round starting with this vote right here.

Russell White is a Golden Bears football legend who got to this round by easily taking out fellow running baack Shane Vereen. On the other side we've got Olympic superstar and swimming Bear Nathan Adrian who handled another running back, Joe Igber, in his last vote. Can he do it again to continue his run through the Pete Newell Region?

This should be a really interesting vote as Russell White is a huge favorite of so many people (myself included) from the early '90's, while Nathan Adrian is getting all kinds of publicity thanks to the Olympics. Either way, the winner will move on to face the winner of the Javhid Best/ Kirk Everist match-up in the third round. You can take a look at the whole bracket here and see how things stack up for your favorite Golden Bear. The full write-ups are after the jump and voting will end on Friday. GO BEARS!

(1) Russell White

Learn a little more about our nominee with this video:

Cal Football: Russell White - Where Are They Now? (Cal Alumni Association) (via calathletics)

And then check out some of White's amazing moves from his playing days!

1990 Cal Football Highlights Part A (via PRD74)

LeonPowe: Superman. One of the 3 best running backs (some would argue the best ever) to play at Cal. Finished in the top 5 in Heisman as a junior. Carried Cal to a #7 National ranking at the end of the 1991 season. Hurdled a Purdue player well before anyone else did it.

Kodiak: Took it to the house on a 100yd kickoff return first time he touched the ball in a Cal uniform.
Had some crazy reverse-the-field oh-no-he-didn't runs that were Marshawn-esque before Marshawn.
Put up huge #'s while still sharing the ball with another 1000-yd rusher (Anthony Wallace).

Freaky athlete. He hurdled a guy once and got penalized for it...because the guy was still standing. (yes, not diving, not tackling, not kneeling/crouching.)

For you younguns: A little taller/faster than Forsett, similar vision. Not quite as powerful as Marshawn, but similiar wiggle/athleticism.

Tightwad Hill elaborates:

Cal's all-time leading rusher was perhaps the biggest recruiting coup in school history. Controversy surrounded White's decision to move from Crespi HS to Berkeley, since he was a Prop 48 student who had not achieved a qualifying SAT score. A summer of tutoring revealed that Russell was dyslexic, and he would go on to earn his degree in social welfare in four years with a B average.

He would also go on to become Cal's all-time leading rusher, behind 1,000 yard efforts in 1991 and 1992. Fifteen times he rushed for at least 100 yards in a game, including a 229-yard effort in Cal's record setting 52-30 beatdown of USC in 1991. With White, the Bears reversed a decade of futility and won back-to-back bowls in 1990 and 1991. His '91 season, with 1,177 yards rushing and fourteen touchdowns earned White first-team All-America honors from the Walter Camp Foundation and the FWAA.
Now thanks to Prd74, we all get to bask in Russell's greatness a little; his freshman campaign in 1990 had some great moments, including a 99 yard kickoff return against Miami in the first video and an utterly insane run starting at 4:24 in the second vid.

(4) Nathan Adrian

Cal Mens Swimming vs. USC 100y Freestyle (via AquaVolo)

Let's check Wiki:

Nathan Adrian (born December 7, 1988) is an American swimmer and Olympic gold medalistwho currently holds the American record in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle (short course).^[1]

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Adrian swam in the heats of the 4×100 m freestyle relay and earned a gold medal when the United States won in the final. He has won a total of twelve medals in major international competition, ten gold, one silver, and one bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, and the Pan Pacific Championships.

paleodan adds: "And he helped out on Mythbusters. (A Bay Area show about nerds that like to blow stuff up with robots-and you can't get much more Cal then that.)"

Via his CalBears.com profile:

• 2010 NCAA champion in the 100 free

• Member of 2010 NCAA champion 200 free, 400 free and 400 medley relays

• 2010 Pac-10 champion in the 50 and 100 free

• Member of 2010 Pac-10 champion 400 free and 400 medley relays

• 2009 NCAA champion in the 50 (American record 18.71) and 100 free (American record 41.08)

• 2009 Pac-10 champion in the 50, 100 and 200 free

• Member of 2009 Pac-10 champion 200 and 400 medley relays

• Named 2009 Pac-10 Swimmer of the Year

• Named 2010 CoSida ESPN The Magazine All-Academic All-American and first-team Pac-10 All-Academic

• Cal school record-holder in 50 (18.71), 100 (41.08) and 200 free (1:32.98)

• On Cal school record-holding 200 medley (1:22.50, freestyle leg), 400 medley (3:01.69, freestyle leg), 200 free (1:15.13, lead-off leg), 400 free (2:47.61, lead-off leg) and 800 free (6:19.79, lead-off leg) relays (joins Graeme Moore as only people to be on all five school record relays)

• Pac-10 record-holder in 50, 100 and 200 free, 200 and 400 free and 200 and 400 medley relays