Cal Olympic Sports Roundup - January has been good for the Bears

Cal swimming had a dominant outing against the Arizona schools this past weekend, as the home part of the schedule comes to and end. Both of these meets were also shown on the Pac-12 Networks.

Women's Swimming

The No.1 ranked Cal Women's swimming was just as advertised this past weekend. The Bears beat the Arizona State Sun Devils by a team score of 229-69 and then followed it up by beating the 10th ranked Arizona Wildcats 190-109. For the most part, the main competition for most Bears in the pool were their own teammates. Coach McKeever had said that this first weekend of meet in the new year is typically when the team has struggled traditionally; she followed that up by saying that the team still got a lot of work to do. As we get closer and closer to the NCAA championships in March, watch (Bears will be featured on the Pac-12 Networks a few more times) the times start to come down more and more.

On Friday, four Bears were winners of multiple events, with two other Cal Bears winning an event. From CalBears.com article:

Senior Cindy Tran (100 back, 100 fly), as well as freshmen Missy Franklin (200 and 500 free, 200 back), Marina Garcia (100 and 200 breast) and Celina Li (200 fly, 400 IM) were multiple winners on the afternoon. In addition, Kaylin Bing prevailed in the 50 free and Rachael Acker took first place in the 100 free.

Behind a record crowd on Saturday, it was more of the same from the Bears, who were winners of 11 of 16 events. Missy Franklin again won 3 events but this time in 100 back, 100 free, to go with 500 free.

Bears will travel down to LA next weekend with the Saturday meet with UCLA to be shown tape delayed on the Pac-12 Networks on Saturday night.

Men's Swimming

Like the women's team, men's swimming also kicked off 2014 by dominating their counterparts from the Arizona schools. The 4th ranked Bears beat ASU 178-113 on Friday and followed that up with a 206-92 win over the 5th ranked Arizona.

On Friday, Josh Prenot (100 breast, 400 IM) and Ryan Murphy (100, 200 free) each got two wins. On Senior Day on Saturday, senior Jeremy Bagshaw posted the fastest time in the nation this year for 1000 free while also winning 500 free. Fellow senior (and Calympian) Marcin Tarczynski won 100 fly and 200 fly. Freshman Ryan Murphy again won two events, as did junior Seth Stubblefield.

With more implication toward Cal's NCAA team championship chances, transfer from Harvard Chuck Katis staked claim as the Bears' best swimmer in breaststroke in his first weekend of competition.

Bears will compete at Bakersfield and USC on Thursday and Friday. One last dual meet to end the season will be against Stanfurd on February 22nd. That meet will be on the Pac-12 Networks.

Rugby (5-0)

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Cal Rugby proved to be again the best rugby squad in the whole UC System. Bears won the All-UC tournament for the 9th straight time, rolling over UCSB, UC Davis, and UC Riverside before beating host UCLA 18-3 in the finals.

Cal wins 9th straight #StorerClassic 18-3 over UCLA. Seamus Kelly w trophy #GoBears pic.twitter.com/ceavYW3Xtx

— Cal Varsity Rugby (@CalVarsityRugby) January 19, 2014

Just how dominant was the Bears? (From CalBears.com)

Cal exited the event with 33 tries and 217 points over four matches for an average of 8.25 tries scored per game, 1.35 points scored per minute and only eight points scored by the opposition (2.0 ppg).

In the more competitive final, Bears' scoring was all due to the leg of Jake Anderson in the first half as he made 3 kicks (two penalties and a drop goal). In the second half, captain Seamus Kelly (see above) scored the lone try of the match with Anderson making the subsequent conversion.

Cal's freshman and sophomore team also recorded a 101-5 victory over California Maritime.

On Feb. 1st, Cal will open the PAC Rugby Conference season by hosting Oregon State at Wittier Rugby Field at 1 pm.

Women's Tennis (2-0)

No.8 Cal Women's Tennis kicked off 2014 with two easy home wins over Santa Clara and Washington in the ITA Kick-Off weekend. Bears hosted Santa Clara, Washington, and UNLV for the right to advance to the ITA Championships mid-february.

No. 8 Cal (1-0) def. No. 66 Santa Clara (0-1), 4-0

Doubles

1: Maegan Manasse/Anett Schutting (Cal) def. Katie Le/Daniella Silva (SCU) – 6-0

2: No. 48 Denise Starr/Zsofi Susanyi (Cal) vs. Chelby Cooke/Delphine Rouvillois (SCU) - Abandoned

3: Lynn Chi/Klara Fabikova (Cal) def. Nikki Wolny/Stephanie Skaras (SCU) - 6-1

Cal captures the doubles point.

Order of Finish: 3, 1.

Singles

1: No. 26 Anett Schutting (Cal) vs. No. 35 Katie Le (SCU) - Abandoned

2: No. 15 Denise Starr (Cal) vs. Chelby Cooke (SCU) - Abandoned

3: No. 95 Lynn Chi (Cal) def. Daniella Silva (SCU) - 6-1, 7-6(7-2)

4: No. 31 Maegan Manasse (Cal) def. Delphine Rouvillois (SCU) - 6-0, 6-2

5: Klara Fabikova (Cal) def. Stephanie Skaras (SCU) – 6-1, 6-0

6: Alice Duranteau (Cal) vs. Nikki Wolny (SCU) - Abandoned

Order of Finish: 5, 4, 3.

No. 8 Cal (2-0) def. No. 43 Washington (3-1), 4-0

Doubles

1: Maegan Manasse/Anett Schutting (Cal) vs. Elianne Douglas-Miron/Riko Shimizu (UW) – Abandoned

2: No. 48 Denise Starr/Zsofi Susanyi (Cal) def. Natalie Coronel/Grace Ysidora (UW) – 6-3

3: Lynn Chi/Klara Fabikova (Cal) def. Andjela Nemcevic/Julija Lukac (UW) – 6-3

Cal captured the doubles point.

Order of Finish: 3, 2.

Singles

1: No. 26 Anett Schutting (Cal) vs. Elianne Douglas-Miron (UW) – Abandoned

2: No. 15 Denise Starr (Cal) def. Grace Ysidora (UW) – 6-0, 6-0

3: No. 16 Zsofi Susanyi (Cal) vs. Julija Lukac (UW) – Abandoned

4: No. 95 Lynn Chi (Cal) vs. Andjela Nemcevic (UW) – Abandoned

5: Klara Fabikova (Cal) vs. Riko Shimizu (UW) – 6-0, 6-0

6: No. 31 Maegan Manasse (Cal) def. Natalie Coronel (UW) – 6-0, 6-2

Order of Finish: 2, 5, 6.

Those are quite a few "bagels" put up on the scoreboard by the Bears.

With those wins, the Bears will next travel to University of Virginia for the ITA National Indoor Championships on Feb. 7-10. The competition there will no doubt be more challenging.

Men's Tennis (3-0)

No.16 Cal Men's Tennis had three meets this past week as they hosted San Francisco on Tuesday (a 4-0 win), follow by a 4 team tournament (also the ITA Kick Off) down at Pepperdine. Bears first defeated the 33rd ranked Alabama by a score of 4-2 before upsetting 12th ranked host Pepperdine also by a final score of 4-2.

On to the next one! Bears fight through a tough Pepperdine squad to win 4-2! #GoBears #itakickoff #sweetsixteen pic.twitter.com/IlPd0uMRwe

— Cal Men's Tennis (@CalMensTennis) January 25, 2014

No. 16 Cal (2-0) def. No. 33 Alabama (3-1), 4-2

Doubles

1. Nikko Madregallejo/Daniil Proskura (UA) def. Campbell Johnson/Ben McLachlan (CAL) 6-4

2. Gregory Bayane/Chase Melton (CAL) def. Sean Donohue/B. O'Shaughnessey (UA) 6-3

3. Andrew Goodwin/Stuart Kenyon (UA) def. Mads Engsted/Filip Bergevi (CAL) 6-4

Alabama captured the doubles point.

Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3.

Singles

1. Ben McLachlan (CAL) def. #14 Daniil Proskura (UA) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4

2. #51 B. O'Shaughnessey (UA) def. #74 Campbell Johnson (CAL) 6-4, 6-4

3. Filip Bergevi (CAL) def. Nikko Madregallejo (UA) 4-6, 6-5, 6-3

4. #85 Andre Goransson (CAL) def. Saxon Buehning (UA) 6-4, 4-6, 6-5 (7-3)

5. Gregory Bayane (CAL) def. Stuart Kenyon (UA) 6-3, 6-2

6. Nikhil Jayashankar (CAL) vs. Andrew Goodwin (UA) 6-2, 5-6, 3-3, unfinished

Order of Finish: 5, 2, 1, 3, 4.

No. 16 California (3-0) def. No. 12 Pepperdine (2-1) – 4- 2

Doubles

1. Alex Sarkissian/Francis Alcantara (Pepperdine) def. Campbell Johnson/Ben McLachlan (Cal) – 6-4

2. Gregory Bayane/Chase Melton (Cal) def. David Sofaer/Pedro Leme (Pepperdine) – 6-2

3. Rakshay Thakkar/Alex Giannini (Pepperdine) def. Mads Engsted/Filip Bergevi (Cal) – 6-4

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1.

Singles

1. No. 33 Alex Sarkissian (Pepperdine) def. Ben McLachlan (Cal) – 6-2, 6-1

2. No. 74 Campbell Johnson (Cal) def. No. 58 David Sofaer (Pepperdine) – 6-3, 6-2

3. Filip Bergevi (Cal) def. Francis Alcantara (Pepperdine) – 6-4, 6-5 (7-5)

4. Stefan Menichella (Pepperdine) vs. No. 85 Andre Goransson (Cal) – 6-4, 2-6, 0-2, unfinished

5. Gregory Bayane (Cal) def. Pedro Leme (Pepperdine) – 6-1, 6-2

6. Nikhil Jayashankar (Cal) def. Rakshay Thakkar (Pepperdine) – 6-3, 6-2

Order of Finish: 1, 2, 5, 6, 3.

In both meet, the Bears conceded the doubles point to their opponent. Bears were able to rally by winning more singles (often via straight sets).

The men's ITA Indoor Championships will take place in Houston, TX from Feb 14-17. Before that, the Bears will first host Hawaii and St. Mary's this weekend.

Women's Gymnastics (3-4, 0-3)

No. 25 may not be winning meets so far in 2014, but they certainly are encouraged by their team score. Bears actually had a chance to beat host Arizona State on Saturday but two late falls off the balance beam cost the Bears a win.

From CalBears.com:

"It was critical for us to go out on the road and get a solid score," said Cal head coach Justin Howell. "Despite the falls on beam, our performance will definitely help improve our average and give us confidence, so in a lot of ways this was a win for us."

Prior to the ASU meet, the Bears scored a season high of 196.275 at No.4 Utah. That was merely the 8th time in the last 20 years that Cal has scored over 196 points. Bears nearly match that feat against ASU prior to the late falls.

So all things consider, the young Cal squad may be poised to get better and pull off some surprises by the Pac-12 Championships (and possibly beyond).

The Bears finish w/ 195.35. Many highlights and beautiful gymnastics. Next up: Fri. 1/31 vs. UCLA in BEAR TERRITORY! pic.twitter.com/7tvGzyVWvk

— Cal W Gymnastics (@calwgym) January 25, 2014

Up Next, the Bears will host UCLA this Friday at 6 pm. This meet will be shown live on the Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Los Angeles.

Men's Gymnastics (1-3)

No.6 Cal Men's Gymnastics finally bested rival Stanfurd, on the third try of the season. Bears were able to up their team score from the 425 range to 430 in the Stanfurd Open this past weekend. Although the Bears fell short of the score of Michigan (defending NCAA Champions), the Bears' 430.300 was better than 'Furd's 429.900.

Bears will finally not go up against 'Furd comes Feb. 8th when they host Arizona State.

Women's Water Polo (6-0)

The 6th ranked (all the Cal Olympics Sports teams are ranked, by the way) is also dominating their way through these early tournaments. The Bears finished the UCSB tournament with a perfect 4-0 record while outscoring their opponents by a total margin of 27-10. Freshman Dora Antal is the Bears' leading scorer with 25 goals already on the season.

No. 4 Cal 13, Long Beach State 6

Cal 3 5 4 1 – 13

LB 2 2 1 1 – 6

Cal Goals: Victoria Williams 3, Dora Antal 3, Kelly McKee, Ashley Young, Sierra Smiley, Brooke Vowell, Tiera Schroeder, Michelle Caron, Anna Illes.

Long Beach Goals: Coriann Snyder 2, Justine Morgan 2, Hillary Veselik, Rachel Cretcher.

Cal Saves: Madeline Trabucco 8, Savanna Smith 4.

Long Beach Saves: Kelly Ringel 7.

No. 4 Cal 14, UCSB 4

Cal 4 4 3 3 – 14

UCSB 0 1 1 2 – 4

Cal Goals: Dora Antal 5, Anna Illes 3, Brooke Vowell 2, Meagan Smith, Victoria Williams, Missy Hale, Emily Loughlin.

UCSB Goals: Lauren Martin 2, Bryn Hudson, Samantha Murphy.

Cal Saves: Savanna Smith 5, Madeline Trabucco 6.

UCSB Saves: Mackenzie Brokaw 10.

Bears will face tougher opponents (UCLA, 'Furd) this weekend at the Stanford Invitational.

GO BEARS!