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Golden Medals: Cal Rugby drops 100 on Texas to advance to Varsity Cup semifinal; Men's Track wins Big Meet

Big Slam for both men (at Stanford) and women (at Berkeley) are on Saturday. Big Baseball series for the Bears at No.3 UCLA. Toni-Ann Williams competed at the NCAA women's gymnastics championships today.

By Ruey Yen
Varsity Cup semifinal is tomorrow for Cal Rugby
Varsity Cup semifinal is tomorrow for Cal Rugby
Cal Varsity Rugby Facebook Page

Cal Rugby (hosting Navy at 1:30 PM on Saturday in Varsity Cup Semi, Free Stream online)

Cal 100, Texas 7

While it was of little doubts that the Bears will falter at Texas in the Varsity Cup Quarter-Finals, that was a nice score to see for our Sturdy Golden Bears who played several younger players in this contest last Saturday, taking place down in Austin. Bears scored a total of 16 tries, with 3 from captain Jake Anderson (who was taken out of the game in the 22nd minute) and Lucas Dunne.

The Scoring Timeline vs. Texas

02:00 Jake Anderson 5

04:00 Eakalafi Okusi 5, Jake Anderson 2

08:00 Jake Anderson 5

10:00 Jake Anderson 5, 2

13:00 Patrick Barrientes 5

20:00 Nick Salaber 5, Jake Anderson 2

28:00 Lucas Dunne 5

30:00 Jesse Milne 5, Nicklas Boyer 2

34:00 Lucas Dunne 5, Nicklas Boyer 2

Halftime Score: California 55, Texas 0

45:00 Connor Sweet 5, Nicklas Boyer 2

53:00 UT (Taylor Hayes) 5, (Steve Taylor) 2

58:00 Tomas Zerbino 5

62:00 Patrick Barrientes 5

66:00 Drew Gaffney 5, Matthew Coyle 2

69:00 Lucas Dunne 5, Matthew Coyle 2

72:00 Brian Joyce 5, Matthew Coyle 2

75:00 Drew Gaffney 5, Matthew Coyle 2

Final Score: California 100, Texas 7

The Team vs. Texas

15. Anderson (Thornton @ 22:00), 14. Milne (Flynn @ 74:00), 13. Barrientes, 12. Okusi, 11. Dunne, 10. Webb (Coyle @ 50:00), 9. Boyer (Goodwin @ 63:00), 1. Walsh (Joyce @ 40:00), 2. Haynes, 3. Sullivan, 4. Zerbino, 5. Sina (Damas @ 40:00), 6. N. Salaber, 7. Tandy, 8. Sweet (Gaffney @ 54:00)

It certainly would be nice to see Cal Football be able to put up a similar offensive score when they travel down to Austin this fall.

The Bears will next take on Navy at 1:30 pm on Saturday (stop by after the Cal Football Spring Game!). Bears have faced Navy in the Varsity Cup semifinal before. Two years ago, Bears defeated Navy at Wittier in the semifinal round (this came after the Bears defeated Notre Dame in Annapolis the week before...yeah, the Bears traveled to Maryland but didn't play Navy). Navy is an experienced and tenacious side, despite them narrowly defeating Dartmouth 23-22 and then Clemson 24-23 in the first two rounds.

For those of us that can't make it to Berkeley, the match will be streamed for free on Pac-12 Digital (http://pac-12.com/videos/university-california).

Here are the probably starting lineup for the Bears.

The winner of this match will play the winner of BYU-Central Washington at Rio Tinto Stadium just outside Salt Lake City on May 2nd. That match will be broadcasted on NBC Sports Networks.

Cal Track and Field

Both the Cal Men and Women competed down at the Farm in the Big Meet against Stanford last Saturday.

The Cal Men won the Big Meet for the 3rd consecutive year.

The Cal women didn't fare as well.

Thomas Joyce had a great day, setting school record while winning both the 1500 meter and 3000 meter races. He got some much deserved national honor.

in addition to the Pac-12 honor.

Here are the full results:

121st Big Meet
Cobb Track and Angell Field
Stanford, Calif.

California Results

Men

100-meters – 2. Khalfani Muhammad 10.62; 3. Karsten Wethington 10.84; 4. Ashtyn Davis 11.24

200-meters – 2. Khalfani Muhammad 21.53; Ashtyn Davis 22.58; 5. Ja’Vion Robinson 23.49

400-meters – 2. Jalen Doss 48.38 PR; 3. Ben Greenwald 49.09

800-meters – 1. Eugene Hamilton III 1:48.98 PR; 3. Ellis Newton 1:50.31; 5. Leland Later 1:50.78; 6. Josh Lewis1:50.84 PR; 8. William Contreras 1:55.40 PR

1500-meters – 1. Thomas Joyce 3:39.43 PR; 4. Leland Later 3:43.20 PR; 7. Josh Lewis 3:45.68 PR

3000-meters – 1. Thomas Joyce 8:00.50 PR; 5. Garrett Corcoran 8:24.36 PR; 6. John Lawson 8:28.23; Collin JarvisDNF

3000-meter steeplechase – 1. Collin Jarvis 9:19.08; 2. Yohaness Estifanos 9:20.79; 3. Seamus Land 9:25.25; Ned Trim10:09.51

110-meter hurdles – 1. Ashtyn Davis 14.32; 3. Ja’Vion Robinson 15.56

400-meter hurdles – 1. Jonte Turner 53.62; 2. Jalen Doss 54.16 PR

4x100-meter relay – Karsten Wethington, Jalen Doss, Ashtyn Davis, Khalfani Muhammad 41.45

4x400-meter relay – 2. Ben Greenwald, Jonte Turner, Walt Jones IV, Eugene Hamilton III 3:14.32

High Jump – 2. David Chukwu 6-6.00 (1.98m) PR; 3. Alex Wilde 6-0.50 (1.84m); Noel Frazier NH

Pole Vault – 2. Matt Schwartz 15-7.25 (4.76m) PR

Long Jump – 1. Jonte Grant 24-7.00 (7.49m); 2. Walt Jones IV 24-0.75 (7.33m)

Triple Jump – 2. Jonte Grant 51-0.00 (15.54m); 3. Karsten Wethington 48-7.50 (14.82m)

Javelin – 3. Andrew Scholnick 181-7 (55.35m) PR

Hammer – 1. Scott Esparza 204-1 (62.20m); 2. Peter Simon 188-3 (57.37m) PR; 3. Brenden Song 170-1 (51.84m)

Shot Put – 1. Ethan Cochran 61-0.75 (18.61m) PR; 2. Peter Simon 59-9.50 (18.22m) PR; 4. Matt Esparza 53-9.00 (16.38m)

Discus – 1. Ethan Cochran 181-6 (55.33m); 2. Brenden Song 176-7 (53.83m)

Team Standings: 1. California 101; 2. Stanford 62

Women

100-meters – 2. Jayla Scholis 12.08; 3. Jasiri Blake 12.21; 4. Erica Wilson 12.48

200-meters – 3. Jasiri Blake 24.97; 4. Jayla Scholis 25.29; 5. Morgan Robertson 25.90 PR

400-meters – 3. Khala Taylor 56.70; 5. Adrienne Hinkston 58.79; 6. Sam Ralstin 1:00.72

800-meters – 6. Nijae Jones 2:13.89; 7. Nuria Tio Peig 2:16.58 PR; 8. Katherine Haysbert 2:16.70

1500-meters – 4. Bethan Knights 4:19.60 PR; Mariel Mendoza 4:32.53; Heather Cerney 4:33.93; Katherine Haysbert4:42.80

3000-meters – 3. Leanne Jarvis 9:39.30 PR; 7. Mariel Mendoza 9:54.40; 8. Megan Bordes 10:05.48

3000-meter steeplechase – 2. Elizabeth Flatley 11:31.75

100-meter hurdles – 2. Morgan Robertson 14.87

400-meter hurdles – 2. Arielle Stevenson 1:04.21

4x100-meter relay – Erica Wilson, Jasiri Blake, Khala Taylor, Jayla Scholis 46.82

4x400-meter relay – Nijae Jones, Adrienne Hinkston, Arielle Stevenson; Jayla Scholis 3:49.52

High Jump – 1. Asia Chesley 5-6.00 (1.68m); 2. Christine Canning (J1.68m); 3. Tara Lookabaugh 5-4.50 (1.64m)

Pole Vault – 1. Victoria Rische 13-1.50 (4.00m); 3. Tara Lookabaugh 10-4.75 (3.17m) PR

Long Jump – 2. Rukayah Bent-Mikail 18-6.00 (5.64m) PR; 3. Ashley Anderson 17-4.25 (5.29m) PR; 4. Kiare Tanner 17-2.75 (5.25m)

Triple Jump – 2. Rukayah Bent-Mikail 41-1.00 (12.52m) PR; 3. Ashley Anderson 40-6.00 (12.34m) PR; 4. Kiare Tanner39-10.50 (12.15m)

Javelin – 2. Cheri Chan 134-4 (40.95m)

Hammer – 3. Destiny Parker 165-6 (50.44m) PR; 4. Ginika Iwuchukwu 139-0 (42.37m) PR

Shot Put – 3. Ginika Iwuchukwu 46-0.00 (14.02m); 4. Destiny Parker 45-11.75 (14.01m)

Discus – 4. Destiny Parker 127-9 (38.94m) PR; 5. Ginika Iwuchukwu 118-4 (36.06m)

Team Standings: 1. Stanford 111; 2. California 49

Cal Women's Gymnastics

The team may not have made it to the NCAA, but Cal freshman Toni-Ann Williams will compete as an individual at the NCAA Championships this weekend in Fort Worth, Texas. She has a great chance to be quite competitive for a national championship in both individual events and the all-around.

Toni-Ann is particularly strong on the vault, having picked up a perfect 10 score this season.

UPDATED: Given the lateness of this post, Toni-Ann has completed her run in the first semifinal earlier today. With half of the field yet to perform, Toni-Ann is in 11th place in the all-around and posted solid (but unlikely to continue) scores on the various events.

From CalBears.com:

California freshman Toni-Ann Williams' wrapped up her season with a 39.225 all-around score, finishing 11th in the first semifinal session of the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships in Fort Worth this afternoon. Williams' overall standing will be determined following this evening's second semifinal, which begins at 5 p.m. PT.
Williams, rotating with Florida, opened the session on floor in the second rotation. The bounciness of the podium, which is not used until NCAA Championship competition, led to minor landing errors but Williams turned in a solid and high-energy routine for a 9.85.

On vault, Williams' best event, the freshman launched into a strong and powerful vault and stuck her landing on the immediate impact but stepped backward before she had complete control to earn a 9.825.

She wrapped up the afternoon on bars and beam, where she produced solid routines on both to earn a 9.80 and 9.75, respectively.

It's been a great season for Toni-Ann Williams and the best news is that she is merely a freshman who is expected to get even better next year.

In recruiting news, Bears added three new names to the incoming class in addition to one commit from last November. Read about them on CalBears.com.

With me being a physicist, I will highlight the Q&A with Sofie Seilnacht:

Major:

Plans to major in Astrophysics and attend graduate school. Would like to land a job in cosmology research after graduation.

Best of luck to Sofie and the rest of the incoming Cal Bears in their pursuit of both athletic glory and academic success.

Cal Baseball (23-11, 10-6)

One week after a disappointing home series loss to a not-really-all-that-good Stanford team, the Bears face a tough challenge in No.3 UCLA this weekend down in Westwood. Despite the tough challenge on paper, Bears had a great opener to the series on Thursday night as "Friday" ace Daulton Jefferies was able to shutdown the Bruins with senior Dylan Nelson nailing down the save (both guys had a subpar series against Furd). Lucas Erceg provided a solo homer while Halamandaris had a clutch single for the Bears, in a 2-0 shutout of UCLA.

The next two games of the series are scheduled for:

Fri., April 17 UCLA Jackie Robinson Stadium, Los Angeles, Calif. 4 p.m. Pac-12 Net, KALX 90.7 FM
Sat., April 18 UCLA Jackie Robinson Stadium, Los Angeles, Calif. 7:30p.m. Pac-12 Net, KALX 90.7 FM

Bears had a tough time against Stanford last week, although they did had an exciting finish on Saturday (after blowing two big leads). In the bottom of the 9th, this happened:

WALK OFF LETS GO BEARS

A video posted by Rob Hwang (@bobbysworlds) on

A weekend series win at UCLA would surely erased the bitter taste of last weekend.

Cal Softball (32-9)

Cal ace Katie Sutherland-Finch no-hit Santa Clara 8-0 on Tuesday. Ho Hum. Bears also easily swept UNLV in 3 game non-conference series and beat St. Mary's before that.

Pac-12 play is back this weekend, however. The Bears are down in LA to take on Bruins in a 3 games series. All 3 games are on the Pac-12 Networks. Game 1 has already started (and Bruins have an early lead, ugh).

Also, you can still vote (and should vote again) for Cheyenne Cordes for the Senior CLASS Award.

Cal Women's Water Polo (17-6, 3-3 in MPSF; regular season concluded yesterday)

Bears concluded regular season play with a Big Splash loss to Stanford on Thursday afternoon. No.1 Cardinal prevailed 7-3 against the 4th ranked Bears.

No. 1 Stanford 7, No. 4 Cal 3

Stan 2 1 4 0 - 7

Cal 0 2 0 1 - 3

Stanford Goals: Jordan Raney 2, Katie Dudley, Gupreet Sohi, Jamie Neushul, Maggie Steffens, Anna Yelizarova.

Cal Goals: Roser Tarrago 2, Dora Antal.

Stanford Saves: Gabby Stone 8.

Cal Saves: Madeline Trabucco 2.

Bears will have the 4th seed in the MPSF Tournament next weekend. Bears draw host No.5 ASU in Tempe to open tournament play.

Cal Men's Tennis (16-7, 4-2 in Pac-12)

28th Ranked Cal Men will look to avenge for the earlier season's home loss to No.24 Stanford in the official "Big Slam" down at The Farm on Saturday. Back in Berkeley in February, Bears choked away a 5-1 lead in the deciding set to lose 4-3. Let's not do that again, please.

The Pac-12 Championships in Ojai is next for the Bears, but I believe the players play as individuals (or pairs for doubles) in that one.

Cal Women's Tennis (18-3, 8-1 in Pac-12)

With the defeat of UCLA yesterday, No.1 USC has clinched the Pac-12 title with a perfect conference season (that's what Cal did last year en route to winning the Pac-12 in 2014). USC apparently celebrated by pulling a Sergio Romo (of Real Madrid who dropped the Copa Del Rey trophy under the parade bus) and broke the Pac-12 trophy.

Just because the conference title is out of reach does not make the Big Slam against Stanford tomorrow any less important.

CalBears.com interviewed the two seniors on the team in Cecilia Estlander and Zsofi Susanyi. To answer Leland's favorite question:

CB: What is your favorite class at Cal?

CE: "My mentor and my absolute favorite professor, who I’ve learned so much from and who I was also a teaching assistant for last semester, is Daniel Mulhern. He’s a professor at the Haas Business School. I took a class from him – it was UGBA 155, on leadership. It’s just so relatable to life, to tennis, to business or to anything you do. It’s just so useful to know those skills. It’s a topic I’m very interested in. I very much enjoyed that class."

ZS: "I took a developmental psychology class (psychology 140) last semester that was really interesting, and I also really liked my GSI. She made it even better. It’s a really hard question, because there are so many interesting classes here."

GO BEARS!

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