California Golden Bears

Infobox college athletics
name = California Golden Bears

logo_width = 118
university = University of California, Berkeley
conference = Pacific Ten Conference | division = Division I
director = Sandy Barbour
city = Berkeley
state = California
stateabb = CA
teams = 27
stadium = California Memorial Stadium
arena = Haas Pavilion
mascot = Oski the Bear
nickname = Golden Bears
fightsong = Fight for California
color1 = Yale Blue
color2 = California Gold
hex1 = 191970
hex2 = FCD116
pageurl = http://calbears.com/
pagename = CalBears.com
rival = Stanford

The California Golden Bears is the nickname used for 27 varsity athletic programs of the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as "California" or "Cal", the university competes in the NCAA's Division I primarily as a member of the Pacific Ten Conference, and for a limited number of sports as a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Over the course of the school's history, California has won national titles in 16 different sports and 66 team titles overall. Cal athletes have also competed in the Olympics for a host of different countries. Notable facilities used by the Bears include California Memorial Stadium and Haas Pavilion. Cal finished the 2005-2006 athletic season with 865.5 points, earning seventh place in the Director's Cup standings, the Golden Bears' highest finish ever. Cal did not receive any points for their national championships in rugby and men's crew because those sports are not governed by the NCAA. [http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/nacda/sports/directorscup/auto_pdf/0506D1FinalStand.pdf]

Current sports program

*Baseball (2 College World Series Championships)
*Basketball (Men - 1 NCAA Championship and Women)
*Crew (Men - 15 team championships and Women - 3 team championships)
*Cross Country (Men and Women)
*Football 2 NCAA Championships
*American-Canadian Curling team 3 Time Aurther Jamison Champions
*Field Hockey (Women)
*Golf (Men - 1 team championship and Women)
*Gymnastics (Men - 4 team Championships and Women)
*Lacrosse (Women)
*Rugby union (24 USA Rugby Championships)
*Soccer (Men and Women)
*Softball (1 NCAA Championship)
*Swimming (Men - 2 team championships and Women) and Diving (Men and Women)
*Track and field (Men - 1 team championship and Women)
*Tennis (Men - 1 team championship and Women)
*Volleyball (Women)
*Water Polo (Men - 13 team championships and Women)

Football

:"For the current football team, see 2008 California Golden Bears football team"

History

Rugby union began play at Cal in 1882 and continued until 1886, when it was ditched in favor of American Football. Rugby would make a return in 1906 after football was deemed too dangerous to play. From 1906 to 1914, Cal rugby garnered a respectable 78-21-10 record. 1914, however, saw the return of football and Cal would not field a rugby team for almost 20 years. In 1931, rugby returned under alumnus Ed Graff. It was during this time that Cal began to compete for the World Cup, which is awarded to the winner of the annual series between Cal and the University of British Columbia.

1938 began the era of Miles "Doc" Hudson, who guided the Bears for 37 years and an incredible record of 339-84-23. His successor would be Ned Anderson, an alumnus and former rugger for the Bears.

National collegiate championships for rugby union began in 1980 and Cal has been utterly dominant, winning 24 titles out of a possible 29. [http://calbears.cstv.com/sports/m-rugby/recaps/050606aad.html] Under Anderson, Cal reeled off four consecutive titles from 1980 to 1983. Current head coach and Cal alumnus Jack Clark took over the team in 1984, and has achieved even more prolonged success, leading the Bears to 20 national titles including a string of twelve consecutive championships from 1991 to 2002 and five more from 2004 to 2008.

Crew

Founded in the same year as the university in 1868, crew was the very first sport at UC Berkeley. Since then it has become one of the most consistently successful Cal varsity programs. Women's crew began in 1974 and it has also become a perennial contender.

Unlike most other sports at Cal where Stanford is considered their chief rival, the Crew's traditional rival is the University of Washington Huskies which year in and year out fields some of the best crews in the country.

Men's Crew History

The first significant coach in Cal men's crew was Carroll "Ky" Ebright, who guided the Bears for 36 years from 1924 to 1959. During his tenure, Cal crew became known for success not only on the collegiate level, but also on the international level. In 1928, Cal fielded one of the most dominant crews in history, as the Bears went undefeated in the United States to win the national championship, earned the right to compete as the United States entry in the Amsterdam Olympics, and subsequently won the gold medal. Cal would represent the United States two more times at the 1932 and 1948 Summer Games, coming away with the gold on both occasions. Ebright ultimately led the Bears to nine conference championships and six Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships, with the 1939 squad being arguably the best by setting the still-standing (as of 2006) four mile course record at the IRA.

Cal maintained its success during the 1960s under coach Jim Lemmon, who in seven years, led the Bears to three more conference and national championships. Cal's success faded a little in the 1970s and 1980s, but the Bears did win another national title and three more conference titles.

Steve Gladstone's second stint as coach (his first was from 1973-1980) began in 1997 and he has resurrected the men's crew program. The Bears have won seven conference titles five straight conference championships from 1998-2002 along with 2005 and 2006. They have also won and five Intercollegiate Rowing Association titles, four in a row in 1999–2002, and again in 2006.
* [http://businessimagegroup.com/Clubs_CalRowing.html Photo Tour of New Cal Crew facilities and Heritage program]
* [http://www.calcrew.com/folder1/home.html Friends of Cal Men's Crew homepage and video podcast]

Women's Crew History

Women's crew began at Cal with a bang, as the Bears won four straight conference titles under Daig O'Connell followed with a national championship in 1980 under Pat Sweeney. However, Cal could not keep up its early success and saw average success for almost the next 20 years. Cal's second renaissance began in the late 1990s, when current coach Dave O'Neill took over the program. Under O'Neill Cal has been invited to the NCAA Rowing Championship the last eight years and won back to back national championships in 2005 and 2006. In 2005 Cal also took the Varsity 8 race, the premier event at the championship.

Track and Field

While Cal has not won many NCAA team championships, the program has had an illustrious history. [http://calbears.cstv.com/sports/c-otrack/spec-rel/07-mediaguide.html] Brutus Hamilton, perhaps Cal's most successful coach, presided during the long supremacy of USC's track and field program [http://usctrojans.cstv.com/sports/m-otrack/archive/052998aaa.html] that precluded winning team titles. Hamilton coached from 1933 to 1965 (with a three year break during World War II). His predecessor, Walter Christie, coached for 32 years, starting in 1901.

The Bears have had numerous notable performers, including:
*Archie Williams, Olympic Gold medalist (400 meters in 1936)
*Grover Klemmer, world record holder over 440 yards (46.6 in 1941);
*Lon Spurrier, world record holder over 880 yards (1:47.5 in 1955);
*Don Bowden, first American to break four minutes for the mile in 1957;
*Eddie Hart, co-World Record holder over 100 meters (9.9) and 4x100 meter Olympic Gold medalist (1972);
*James Robinson, seven-time US champion over 800 meters;
*Shelia Hudson, 11-time US champion in the triple jump.

Other notable alumni include:
*Dave Maggard, Olympic shot putter (1968), Cal track & field coach, athletic director at Cal and Miami
*Brian Maxwell, Canadian Olympic marathoner (1980), founder of PowerBar.

Cal track and field athletes have won 12 medals in the Olympics, including six golds. Hamilton was the head Olympic coach in 1948, and Erv Hunt the head coach in 1996.

Edwards Stadium, located in the lower southwestern corner of the main campus, is the largest track and field-only stadium in the U.S., able to seat in excess of 22,000. Edwards Stadium has hosted eight NCAA championship meets, a National AAU Championship, and the 1971 and '78 USA vs. USSR dual-meets, amongst others. There have been 12 world records (including records by Dutch Warmerdam (pole vault), Jim Ryun (one mile) and Henry Rono (5000 meters)), 26 American records and 24 collegiate records set at Edwards.

Volleyball

Cal volleyball is coached by Rich Feller. In 2007, Feller was named Volleyball Magazine's Coach of the Year.

In 2007, Cal finished off their best season in school history by reaching the final four for the first time before falling to eventual national champion Penn State in the semifinals. Not only did they reach the final four, in their run they were able to defeat defending champion and #2 seed Nebraska, who were the favorite to some to repeat as champions, in the regional final round, in a sweep (3-0). In the tournament, Cal was the #10 seed and was the lowest seed in the final four (the others were #1, #3 and #5)

In 2007, Senior outside hitter Angie Pressey, the daughter of NBA player Paul Pressey, garnered AVCA First Team All-American honors for her good senior year at Cal, and was the only Cal player in history to be named to the Pac-10 All-Conference team all four years. Hana Cutura was named the 2007 regional MVP for her helping Cal reach the final four. The future for Cal looks positive, as they signed the #2 nationally ranked high school recruit, Tarah Murrey, to begin in the 2008 season.

Olympics

Since 1906, Cal students and alumni have participated in the Olympics in a variety of different sports and have represented a diverse group of nations, despite the fact that the university is located in the United States. In the first half of the 20th century, Cal's Olympics presence was felt mainly in the sports of rugby union and crew. The gold medal winning American rugby teams of the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics were made up of many Cal players who were displaced following the school's decision to support American football, rather than rugby [http://calbears.collegesports.com/sports/m-rugby/archive/cal-m-rugby-a-history.html] . In men's crew, Cal's team won gold for the United States three times - at the 1928, 1932, and 1948 Summer Olympics. To date, this is more than any other college or university in the world. [http://calbears.collegesports.com/sports/m-crew/archive/cal-m-crew-bearhist.html]

From the second half of the 20th century and through to the 21st Century, Cal has been a huge presence in the water sports of swimming, diving, and water Polo. Cal swimmers have represented an eclectic group of nations, including Thailand, Poland, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Switzerland, and Sweden. Two of the most well-known Cal Olympic swimmers in the past 20 years are Matt Biondi and Natalie Coughlin. Matt Biondi began his Olympic career with a gold as a member of the 400 free relay team at the 1984 Summer Olympics, but became an outright star four years later when he garnered an amazing seven medals (five gold, one silver, and one bronze) at the 1988 Summer Olympics. He would follow up that effort with four medals (2 gold, one silver, and one bronze) at the 1992 games for a career total of 11 medals, 8 of them gold. Over a decade later, Natalie Coughlin would become another Olympic swimming icon with Cal heritage after an impressive performance at the 2004Athens Games. Individually and in relays, she won five medals (2 gold, 2 silver, one bronze) as a United States representative. Furthermore, Duje Draganja won silver in 50 meters freestyle at the same Olympics, representing Croatia.
* [http://calbears.collegesports.com/trads/cal-olympians.html Full list of Cal Olympians]

References

* [http://calbears.cstv.com/ Official Athletic Site of the University of California Golden Bears]
* [http://calbears.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/2006-media-guide.html 2006 California Golden Bear Football Media Guide]
* [http://calbears.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/05-mediaguide.html 2005-2006 California Golden Bears Men's Basketball Media Guide]
* [http://calbears.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/102205aaa.html 2005-2006 California Golden Bears Women's Basketball Media Guide]
* [http://calbears.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/06-mediaguide.html 2006 California Golden Bears Baseball Media Guide]
* [http://calbears.cstv.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/022806aad.html 2006 California Golden Bears Softball Media Guide]