Feb. 12, 2007 -- Tim McNeill collects the Muscle Milk Athlete of the Week honor for the first time. He is also the first gymnast to collect the honor. While many Golden Bears had tremendous weeks, the junior from Virginia trumped everyone by being selected to the United States Senior National team after his performance in the Winter Cup Saturday night at the Las Vegas Sports Center.
McNeill tied for third among gymnasts competing to make the team with a total score of 38 points, one point behind the second-place finisher. Thirty-one of his points came from parallel bars (21) and still rings (10). The other seven points came on pommel horse, the event that McNeill won the NCAA title last season.
A total of seven gymnasts were added to the national team following the Winter Cup. The top three gymnasts in the points ranking were automatically selected to the team, while the final four gymnasts were selected from the Winter Cup Challenge participants and petitioned athletes by the Men's Program Committee. Some participating gymnasts were part of the 2006 World Championship Team. They remain on the national team, and their results did not count towards the seven who were selected.
Scores from the qualifying meet and the final meet were combined for the total score. McNeill's best total score was on parallel bars (30.950), good enough for second, behind the Winter Cup's all-around winner, Sean Townsend. The Cal standout finished fourth on still rings with a score of 29.950 and sixth on pommel horse with a final two-day total of 28.750.
McNeill was one of two Golden Bears competing in the Winter Cup. He was joined by junior Tyler Block, who fell short of qualifying for the final.
The California men's gymnastics team returns to team competition this Friday, Feb. 16, when it heads back to Stanford for the Big Flip. It will be the third meeting of the season between Cal and Stanford. The Golden Bears start competition at 7 p.m. at Burnham Pavilion.
Muscle Milk California Student-Athlete of the Week
