April 16, 2007
BERKELEY -
While the battle for Muscle Milk Athlete of the Week has been tightly contested many weeks this year, junior
Tim McNeill left little doubt who the winner was this week. The star gymnast for the Golden Bears captured a pair of national championships this past weekend in Pennsylvania.
McNeill, who was the defending national champion on the pommel horse, repeated in that event with a 9.650 and then added a championship on the parallel bars at 9.725. McNeill is the second Golden Bear to win two NCAA titles in the same year. Graham Ackerman was the first to accomplish the feat in 2004 (floor exercise and vault). McNeill becomes the fifth Cal gymnast to repeat as national champion on a particular event.
The two national titles mark the ninth and 10th NCAA titles that Cal has won during the 2006-07 season.
Competing in the middle of the lineup on pommel horse, McNeill said he was nervous because there were still some very good gymnasts who could have beaten him.
It wasn't the same case on parallel bars. Being the second to last to perform, he had a better feeling after that event.
"When I landed the dismount on parallel bars I had a smile on my face because I knew I had won it," McNeill said.
McNeill wasn't the only Bear to end the NCAA Championships on a high note. Colin Christ and Kyson Bunthuwong both turned in strong performances as well on the final day of the season.
On parallel bars, Christ earned All-America honors for his third-place finish with a career-best score of 9.475. Also competing on high bar, Christ tied for second, tallying a 9.375 in that event.
Bunthuwong's score of 9.000 was good enough for eighth, and more importantly, earned him All-America honors as well.
The individual event finals wrapped up the season for Cal. The Bears, who fell just short of qualifying for the team final, left the national championships with two titles in hand.
Muscle Milk California Student-Athlete of the Week
