Golden Nuggets: Chris Borrayo on Outland Award Watch List

Women's Tennis

Helen Wills: Queen of Berkeley Tennis

Long before California women's tennis earned its first No. 1 ranking and long before the likes of Amanda Augustus, Raquel (Kops-Jones) Atawo, Jana Juricova and Maegan Manasse roamed the Hellman Tennis Complex, Helen Wills was the queen of the courts in Berkeley.

One of a handful of women's tennis players who are in the conversation as the greatest of all time, Wills captured 31 Grand Slam titles during an illustrious career that was set in Berkeley during the early part of her life. She was born in Centerville, California, on Oct. 6, 1905, and later grew up in Berkeley. Her father, Dr. Clarence Alfred Walls, taught her to play tennis, and at the age of 14, her parents, including mother Catherine Anderson Wills, gave Helen a membership to the Berkeley Tennis Club. Don Budge, another tennis great from the San Francisco Bay Area, used to ride from east Oakland to Berkeley on his bicycle to watch her practice.

That led to an amazing career that included Wills winning 180 consecutive matches while not losing a set from 1927-1933 and posting a career record of 398-35. With a powerful forehand and backhand and an excellent serve, the implacable Wills won eight Wimbledon singles titles, seven U.S. Open (then the U.S. National Championships) singles titles and four French Championships (French Open) singles crowns along with 12 doubles titles. She was the first woman to win three Grand Slam titles (the U.S., Wimbledon and French) in the same year. Wills - and many of her contemporaries - never played in the Australian Open because of the travel time and distance involved.

Men's Water Polo

John Mann, Luca Cupido, named to Team USA

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The United States men's water polo team will feature two Golden Bears when it heads to Rio as USA Water Polo announced Cal grad John Mann and current junior Luca Cupido as two members of the 13-man squad that will compete in the 2016 Olympics.

Both Cupido and Mann have spent the past several months training with Team USA in preparation for Rio and were named to the Olympic team Thursday as part of a ceremony on the deck of the USS Midway. Recent results have been encouraging as the Americans captured a silver medal at the FINAL World League Super Final to medal at the event for the first time since 2008. That came on the heels of a gold medal run at the FINA Intercontinental Tournament and a showing that ended with Cupido scoring the winning goal with only two seconds left in the gold medal match against Australia.

Men's Crew

Bears Earn National Academic Honors

BERKELEY - California men's crew proved to be more than champions in the water, also making waves in the classroom during the 2016 season as six members were named to the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) All-Academic Team last week.

Seniors Erin Alexander, Dylan Raphael, Morgan Hellen and Jordan Van Der Stoep earned honors in the heavyweight class along with junior Justin Murphy and sophomore Natan Wegrzycki-Szymczyk.

Football

Chris Borrayo Named To Outland Trophy Watch List

DALLAS - Cal senior offensive guard Chris Borrayo was named to the 2016 Outland Trophy Watch List announced Friday by the Football Writers Association of America. Borrayo is on the watch list for the award that annually honors the nation's top interior lineman for the second consecutive season. He was previously named preseason All-Pac-12 by several publications including a first-team selection from Phil Steele.

"I'm honored for the opportunity to compete at my best in my senior year," Borrayo said after the selection.