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CGB Hall of Fame, Round of 32: (1) Layshia Clarendon vs. (8) Caitlin Leverenz

We have completed the round of 64 and we're heading back to the Pete Newell region to begin the round of 32. Layshia and Caitlin cruised to easy victories in the last round, but only one can advance to the Sweet 16.

By Berkelium97
Now that Layshia has thrown a first pitch for Oakland, expect her on the mound when she retires from the WNBA.
Now that Layshia has thrown a first pitch for Oakland, expect her on the mound when she retires from the WNBA.
Ezra Shaw

Last week's results

  • (3) Mike Montgomery easily defeated (14) Ryan Anderson 66%-34%
  • (6) Alexis-Gray Lawson held off a challenge from (11) Keenan Allen for a 55%-45% victory.
  • (10) Joe Igber notched the only upset of the week with a 60%-40% victory over (7) Ryan Anderson Harper Kamp
  • And our final entrant to make it into the Round of 32 was (2) Seamus Kelly, who defeated (15) Bruce Snyder 62%-38%

(1) Layshia Clarendon

NorCalNick gives us some thoughts:

I don't know exactly what Layshia's legacy will be as an individual player. She's probably the best shooting guard in Cal history, depending on whether or not you think of Alexis Gray-Lawson as a point guard. But the legacy of the teams she led is secure: The greatest in Cal history.

And if you only remember her for one game, it's a doozy. When nobody else could score, it was Layshia who sank shot after shot, willing the Bears back against Georgia in the Spokane Regional Final with 25 points. The Bears wouldn't have made the Final Four without her. But we already knew that. Throughout the season she proved herself as a leader, both tangible and intangible. Is it normal for your leading scorer to also be your glue? I don't know, but that's how her teammates described her.

When Joanne Boyle left for Virginia, Clarendon helped hold the team together. She quickly became the go-to player for Lindsay Gottlieb. And yet her off-the-court record is perhaps even more impressive. She was the conference academic player of the year and a senior class award nominee in part because of her volunteer work. She's as well-rounded a player as I can recall, and has never felt the need to publicize her accomplishments. Perhaps that's why the push to win her the Senior CLASS award was so strong.

Her combination of team, individual, academic and community achievement is as strong an argument for CGB Hall of Fame enshrinement as there can be. #Vote4Layshia.

(8) Caitlin Leverenz

Cal Athletics: Bears in London - Caitlin Leverenz (via calathletics)

NorCalNick gives us some info:

Let’s start with the obvious achievement: Caitlin Leverenz is an Olympic medalist already, winning a bronze in the 200m Individual Medley. Cal athletes win plenty of medals, but it’s still pretty rare to win one when you’re still enrolled as a student. And to get a medal in an event that is essentially measuring how well-rounded you are as a swimmer? Even cooler!

But in a way, her collegiate accomplishments seem somehow more impressive. At the 2011 NCAA championships she swam in five events and placed 5th, 4th, 3rd, 1st (relay) and 1st (relay). In 2012, she again swam in five events (3 individual, 2 relays), and this time she recorded four wins and one 2nd place finish . . . and that 2nd place finish was an American record. And Cal won national titles both years.

2013 wasn’t quite as illustrious as 2012, but Leverenz again competed in five events and finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd and 6th. 15 NCAA championship races, and finishing 6th or higher every time. That’s a level of versatility and endurance rarely seen, and I have no doubt the Bears will miss her next year.


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