March 12, 2007
BERKELEY -
This week's Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week had an amazing week and she needed every bit of her success to edge multiple Cal student-athletes for the honor. However, winning four national championship proved to be enough for sensational sophomore swimmer Dana Vollmer.
The Texas product led the Golden Bears to a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships this past weekend in Minneapolis, Cal's best-ever finish. Individually, she won the 100-yard butterfly and also won three championships as part of three relays (the 400-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard medley relay and 800-yard freestyle relay). The relays set new American, U.S. Open, school and pool records. She also finished third in the 200-yard butterfly.
Vollmer, an Olympic Gold Medalist in 2004, registered a lifetime best and pool-record time in the 100-yard butterfly at 50.69 for her first individual NCAA title.
The sophomore teamed with junior Emily Silver, freshman Blake Hayter and senior Erin Reilly to swim a 7:00.89 to win the 800-free relay. In the 400-yard medley relay, the foursome of sophomore Lauren Rogers, sophomore Jessica Hardy, Silver and Vollmer swam a 3:30.18. The final relay victory came in the 400-yard freestyle relay as Reilly, Hardy, Silver and Vollmer swam a 3:12.13.
Cal, which had never finished higher than fourth at the NCAA Championships before this year, collected a school-record 372.5 points.
In addition to Vollmer's amazing weekend, teammate Jessica Hardy won one individual title and was part of two of the relay championships. In other Golden Bear sports, junior Alysia Johnson won the 800-meter run in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, claiming Cal's first NCAA crown since 2000; men's basketball star Ryan Anderson averaged 20.7 points and 11.7 rebounds in the Pac-10 Tournament, helping the Bears shock No. 4 UCLA; men's gymnastics standout Tim McNeill scored career highs on pommel horse and still rings (9.650 for each) in Cal's upset victory over No. 3 Ohio State; women's gymnastics sophomore Jessica Kelley won the all around competition after tallying her career-high of 39.125, in the tri-meet against Penn and Air Force; and in baseball sophomore first baseman David Cooper was 5-for-9 (.556) with two doubles, two home runs and six RBI while sophomore right-hander Tyson Ross was dominant in the Bears' 8-0 shutout of Kent State, throwing 8.0 innings and allowing only three hits, with no walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts.
Muscle Milk California Student-Athlete of the Week
