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Golden Nuggets: Mark Canha Powers A's Over Rays

Zsofi Susanyi and Klara Fabikova reach the Championship match in Women's Doubles. What is women's swimming alum Madison Kennedy up to in Olympic Qualifying? Also, Missy Franklin speaks out over the sexualization of female athletes.

By cldpc
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Women's Tennis

Senior Zsofi Susanyi and junior Klara Fabikova capped off an excellent 2014-2015 campaign for the Golden Bears with a loss in the NCAA Doubles Championship to top-seeded Maya Jansen and Erin Routliffe of Alabama. Susanyi and Fabikova reached the final match by defeating the sixth-ranked Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan of Florida in the semifinal match on Sunday.

Men's Golf

Byeong-hun An (71-64-67-65 - 267, -21) won his first European Tour event Sunday with a record-setting victory at the BMW PGA Championship

Women's Golf

California concluded play Sunday afternoon at the 2015 NCAA Women's Golf Championships, placing 24th with a 321-320-312=953 (+89) at the Concessions Golf Club.

Women's Swimming

CTNow: The Pool is Still the Place For Avon's (and Cal's) Madison Kennedy

by Lori Riley

Madison Kennedy is 27 years old. Yes, she's still swimming and attempting to qualify for the U.S. team to compete at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. No, she wasn't completely crushed when she didn't make the Olympic team in 2012. And no, she's not looking to settle down, get married, have children or do anything else besides training and working at the moment, but thanks for asking.

"If I'm still improving, who's to say I have to stop?" Kennedy said from Charlotte, N.C., where she trains with SwimMAC Carolina at the Mecklenburg Athletic Club. "Is there an age limit? I can swim until I'm 40.

"It's just social pressure. Especially down here. People say, 'Don't you want to get married?' I haven't even hit 30. Or, 'Are you ever going to think about kids?'"

Kennedy, who graduated from Avon High School in 2005 and whose parents still live in town, is still happy doing what she's doing. She loves to meet new people; she loves to talk and loves to swim, although not necessarily at the same time. She's a member of the U.S. national team, swimming in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle races.

At the 2012 Olympic trials, she finished fifth in the 50 and eighth in the 100.

It was her second shot at the trials, but the first time she was still in school, at Cal-Berkeley, where she set the school record in the 50 free (21.87) at the 2008 NCAA championships (it has since been broken). At the 2008 Olympic trials, she finished ninth in the 50 free and 13th in the 100 free.

"My first trials I did great, and I did better at the last trials," said Kennedy, who graduated in 2010. "I was happy with the outcome."

Baseball

#22 Cal defeated #23 Oregon State 7-3 on Sunday to wrap up the regular season. The Bears finished with a 34-19 overall record and a 18-12 record in the Pac-12. As a result, the Bears earned a #3 seed in the College Station Regional of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. This is the Bears' first postseason trip since 2011, when Cal advanced to the College World Series in dramatic fashion. The Bears will face #2 seed Coastal Carolina on Friday at 10 am, followed by either #1 seed Texas A&M or #4 seed Texas Southern.

Relive the dramatics from when the Bears were last in the postseason:

Major League Baseball

Marcus Semien and Mark Canha back up Sonny Gray for the Oakland Athletics in Sunday's 7-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. Semien nailed a runner at home on a relay to prevent a Rays run, and Canha belted a 3-run home run to provide all the offense the Athletics needed. Check out the Golden highlights here.

Missy Franklin

As Missy Franklin turns professional, she is now keenly aware that branding and marketing will now require her to make certain choices with her career, and some of those choices may involve saying no to outlets such as ESPN's Body Issue or Sports Illustrated.

Franklin says:

"Especially so early in my professional career, that's why we put so much effort into picking such great representation. They know me and they know my values and at this point in my career that's something I want to be extremely conscientious of. I just turned 20 years old. I'm very young. In terms of coming off like that, I really don't want to. That's not really who I am and that's not what I'm about.

Other athletes may feel differently and that's OK; that's the way they want to be portrayed. Just because mine is different doesn't make it any more wrong or any more right. But I think the important thing is having that constant group around me that will help me make the best decisions for me."

Franklin's outlook is probably the most mature and reasoned stance a professional athlete can take on the sensitive issue of the sexualization of female athletes. As many in the Cal Family have come to know, Missy has incredible value as an athlete, as an ambassador for the University of California and the charities that she champions, and as a person. It's her choice to avoid diluting that value, and it's a very admirable choice that she should be proud of.

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