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Schedule:
Three different sports (in addition to basketball) are going to be featured on Pac-12 Networks this week.
This weekend Bearathon has Men's Swimming leading off. At 2 pm PT today, Cal Men's Swimming will visit USC.
On Saturday at 11am PT, Cal Rugby will vie for the "World Cup" (well, it's the home leg of the home-and-home) against the University British Columbia Thunderbirds on the Pac-12 Networks (we will have an open thread for this match for you all to discuss).
Sat. 10 am gates for 11 am #WorldCup kickoff at home v @UBCRugby #GoBears pic.twitter.com/kGn8IR8gaw
— Cal Varsity Rugby (@CalVarsityRugby) February 5, 2016
To close out the weekend (if you somehow has Chinese New Year off...to recover from the Super Bowl party) or to kick off the week, Cal Women's Gymnastics will host Arizona at 7 pm PT, also on the Pac-12 Networks.
It is a busy weekend for Cal Athletics. Women's Tennis are in Madison, Wisconsin to try to win the ITA Women's Team Indoor Championship. Cal Men's Tennis are taking on Texas and TCU from Austin.
Closer to the Bay Area (it's not just the Super Bowl that is taking place this weekend), Women's Water Polo will play in the Stanford Invitational. Men's Gymnastics will again face off against Stanford and Michigan from The Farm on Saturday.
Fri,
Feb 5
|
M Swimming & Diving | at USC |
Fri,
Feb 5
|
W Tennis | ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championships: Wisconsin |
Fri,
Feb 5
|
W Basketball | Stanford |
Sat,
Feb 6
|
W Tennis | ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championships |
Sat,
Feb 6
|
Track & Field | All Comers & High School Meet |
Sat,
Feb 6
|
Rugby | vs. British Columbia |
Sat,
Feb 6
|
W Water Polo | Stanford Invitational: Pacific |
Sat,
Feb 6
|
M Tennis | at Big 12/Pac-12 Challenge: Texas |
Sat,
Feb 6
|
M Basketball | Stanford |
Sat,
Feb 6
|
M Gymnastics | at Stanford, Michigan, California |
Sat,
Feb 6
|
W Water Polo | Stanford Invitational: UC Irvine |
Sun,
Feb 7
|
W Tennis | ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championships |
Sun,
Feb 7
|
M Tennis | Big 12/Pac-12 Challenge: TCU |
Sun,
Feb 7
|
W Water Polo | Stanford Invitational: UC Davis |
Sun,
Feb 7
|
W Water Polo | Stanford Invitational: TBD |
Mon,
Feb 8
|
W Tennis | ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championships |
Mon,
Feb 8
|
W Gymnastics | Arizona |
Cal Women's Gymnastics - 1st win over UCLA since 1985!
For the first time since 1985 @calwgym team has defeated UCLA! GO BEARS! #STRIVE https://t.co/nGcS7ZFobF pic.twitter.com/4h5yBQ8qXa
— GoldenBlogs (@GoldenBlogs) February 2, 2016
Bears opened their 2016 home schedule in style on Monday night. With the support of the home crowd, the Bears raised their performances and swept the 5th ranked UCLA Bruins across all events to win a regular season meet over the Bruins for the first time since 1985 (Bears have finished ahead of the Bruins in a multi-school meet once in the interim).
Toni-Ann Williams won 3 events herself in vaults, bars, and floor.
It is of little surprise that Williams won the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week honor.
After helping @calwgym to a historic win, Toni-Ann Williams is #Pac12Gym Gymnast of the Week https://t.co/QLAtoriJdc pic.twitter.com/qVfLoTDnyr
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) February 3, 2016
The Bears are back at Haas on Monday. Be sure to go check out these high flying girls in action in person, if you can.
In Haas Pavilion, Bears can FLY. What a fun first night back in Berkeley for @calwgym! pic.twitter.com/AwfQIYu4l8
— Cal Bears (@CalAthletics) February 2, 2016
Cal Rugby hosts UBC on Saturday
The biggest rival for Cal Rugby is visiting Berkeley this Saturday. With apologies to UCLA (but not so much to Stanford), the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds are the primary rival for our Sturdy Golden Bears (yes, BYU is also in the mix but it is not guaranteed that the Bears play them every year).
The two teams play for this "World Cup" (named after a newspaper) trophy yearly. The trophy is awarded to the winning team with total points as the second tie-breaker after a home-and-home between the two squads.
#TBT #WorldCup trophy at BCHoF, rivalry alive Sat11am v @UBCRugby Witter Rugby Field adv tix https://t.co/D9uy5vaYhP pic.twitter.com/vinxC2CvRT
— Cal Varsity Rugby (@CalVarsityRugby) February 4, 2016
The Bears are coming off an easy 79-0 win over Cal Poly last week to move their 15s record to 5-0. How dominant have the Bears been so far? The Cal ruggers have yet to allow a point to the opposition after sweeping through the UC schools in the opening weekend. Through 5 matches, the Bears have outscored their opponents by a 280 to ZERO margin. This is including the fact that the first three matches played by the Bears were shortened due to the tournament nature of the Storr Classic hosted by UCLA.
Expect the Bears to be challenged for the first time in 2016 this Saturday.
By the way, Cal legend and CGB Hall of Famer, head coach Jack Clark saw his contract extended to 2021 by the University. Equally as important, coach Tom Billup (who was inducted to USA Rugby Hall of Fame last year, an year after Jack Clark) has been promoted to the new title of Associate Head Coach. Both are very well deserved contract extensions and honors.
Cal Soccer - New Golden Bears
The National Signing Day on Wednesday was not limited to just football. We have some news on some new Futbol Golden Bears that have agreed to matriculate in Berkeley.
Cal Women's Soccer signed 6 new Golden Bears.
.@NeilMcGuire Announces Six in Signing Class for #Bears: https://t.co/zZSyHlR22Y #GoBears #CalFamily #NSD2016 pic.twitter.com/wXUURKpYWM
— Cal Women's Soccer (@CalWomensSoccer) February 4, 2016
They are:
Welcome to the #CalFamily, @maggiebell07! Maggie joins the #Bears from @PlacerUnited and Granite Bay HS #NSD2016 pic.twitter.com/UP739uYvvd
— Cal Women's Soccer (@CalWomensSoccer) February 3, 2016
Another NLI is in, and @LakemanAvery is now a Bear! @CanadaSoccerEN youth international MF joins the #CalFamily pic.twitter.com/fBCMXSkFSp
— Cal Women's Soccer (@CalWomensSoccer) February 3, 2016
We are excited to announce that @SurfSoccerClub MF @agabrielag11's NLI is in! Welcome to the #CalFamily, Ana! pic.twitter.com/RdFI2cCfho
— Cal Women's Soccer (@CalWomensSoccer) February 4, 2016
Another NLI is in! @ussoccer_ynt MF @CorbinMia joins the #CalFamily from Maple Valley, Wash.! #GoBears #WelcomeMia pic.twitter.com/JZP9yBLaYE
— Cal Women's Soccer (@CalWomensSoccer) February 4, 2016
Also from the state of Washington, another @ussoccer_ynt member, F/MF @baby_africa25 joins the #CalFamily! #GoBears pic.twitter.com/iHtAEKJizS
— Cal Women's Soccer (@CalWomensSoccer) February 4, 2016
The sixth and final NLI is in, and we are happy to welcome F @kaylafong3 to the #CalFamily as well! #GoBears pic.twitter.com/wU4vgDdoSl
— Cal Women's Soccer (@CalWomensSoccer) February 4, 2016
Both Kim and Corbin are US Soccer Youth National Team players. Lakeman is a member of the Canadian Youth National Team. It would appear that the Cal recruiting is still buoyed by the Alex Morgan effect.
For the Cal men, the Bears added 5 new faces, including one that has already enrolled.
#Bears Announce Five in 2016 Signing Class:https://t.co/GtstzwPra8 #GoBears #NSD2016 pic.twitter.com/RtLDYUTUMa
— Cal Men's Soccer (@CalMensSoccer) February 3, 2016
They are:
Welcome to #Cal, @bribri_ohara! The @LAGalaxyAcademy and @ussoccer_ynt product is officially on his way to Berkeley! #NSD2016 #CalFamily
— Cal Men's Soccer (@CalMensSoccer) February 3, 2016
An NLI is also in for @CrossfirePrmr and @ussoccer_ynt striker @LekressnerSimon, joining the #Bears from Bellevue, Wash. #NSD2016 #CalFamily
— Cal Men's Soccer (@CalMensSoccer) February 3, 2016
.@SacRepublicFC academy and @ussoccer_ynt member David Burns is officially a Golden Bear! Welcome to the #CalFamily, David! #NSD2016
— Cal Men's Soccer (@CalMensSoccer) February 3, 2016
The NLI for @sjeqa GK @CallenderDrake is now in! Welcome to the #CalFamily! #GoBears #NSD2016
— Cal Men's Soccer (@CalMensSoccer) February 3, 2016
And with early enrollee, @atleticosr F/MF Javier Macias already in the fold here in Berkeley, that brings the number of commits to five!
— Cal Men's Soccer (@CalMensSoccer) February 3, 2016
That's 3 US Soccer Youth National Team members in this class as head coach Kevin Grimes reloads in the hope of bringing the Bears back to being National Title contenders again.
Welcome to the Cal Family, all of our new signees!
Cal Swimming
The dual meet seasons are about to come to an end, but there are two more meets for Cal men's swimming.
The Cal men took care of Bakersfield on Thursday by a final of 119-113. Yes, that score looks deceivingly close for the 2nd ranked Bears, but this was an opportunity for Coach Dave Durden to try some new lineups and allow many of the key players to post qualifying time in different events, providing Durden and the Bears with some nice flexibility once the NCAA Championships roll around in late March.
The Bears will take on USC today, putting their 28 straight dual meet win streak to the test, at 2pm with the meet being broadcasted on the Pac-12 Networks.
Bears will conclude their dual meet season at Stanford two weeks from tomorrow on February 20th.
The Cal women have this week off, but will conclude their dual meet season at Stanford next Saturday.
Bears are coming off dual meets down in LA last week. Against USC, the Bears were edged in the final relay to lose 147 to 153. The team did bounce back in a strong way the next day, however, when they defeated UCLA by a score of 185-114, breaking several pool records at the storied UCLA home pool.
Cal Women's Tennis - ITA Indoors Championships this weekend
Just how good are Cal Women's Tennis this year, we are about to find out as the 6th ranked and 4th seeded Bears take on Wisconsin (yum...cheese curds) at the ITA Indoors Championships. Should the Bears survive and advance, they would need to do that 3 times to make it to the finals on Monday.
Winner of Cal-Wisconsin will face the winner of Texas A&M (5 seed)-Virginia. A potential Sunday match has the Bears against top overall seed Vanderbilt. The 2nd and 3rd seeds of the tournament are Georgia and North Carolina, respectively.
Bears are lead by the Pac-12 Players of the Week from two weeks ago in Maegan Manasse.
She's [tennis] courting greatness.
— Pac-12 Networks (@Pac12Networks) January 26, 2016
Maegan Manasse of @CalWomensTennis is a #Pac12Ten Player of the Week! pic.twitter.com/lQOg3dRrAF
Cal Men's Tennis - Face Texas and TCU in Austin this weekend
The Cal men had an easy tuneups last weekend against Hawaii and San Francisco.
The 24th ranked Bears face far more difficult challenge this weekend down in Austin (yum...BBQ) against No.26 Texas and No.2 TCU.
It should be a good challenge.
Cal Women's Water Polo - Stanford Invitational this weekend
5th ranked Bears (7-1) will face some stiffer challenge this weekend at the Stanford Invitational. Bears will face No.12 Pacific, No.10 UC Irvine, and No.8 UC Davis before a TBD matchup.
All 8 schools in this tournament are ranked in the top 25. Should the Bears run through these three matches with wins, I believe they will most likely face top ranked Stanford in that 4th match (feel free to correct me, if I'm wrong though).
Cal Men's Gymnastics
7th ranked Cal Men's Gymnastics may have finished 3rd behind top ranked Oklahoma and 6th ranked Iowa last weekend, nevertheless, they posted their 2nd best overall team score of the year.
They will take on 2nd ranked Stanford, for the 4th time, and Michigan on Saturday night down at the Farm.
Despite the 3rd place finish, Taka Kawada was named MPSF Gymnast of the Week.
Congrats to #Taka! Kawada Named #MPSF Gymnast of the Week: https://t.co/gPgY9NOI1A #Taka #GoBears pic.twitter.com/JZavjHlRV6
— Cal Men's Gymnastics (@CalMensGym) February 3, 2016
Bears will remain on the road until two home meets to close out the regular season on March 11th and 13th.
GO BEARS!