Cal swim takes home bronze and silver in World University Games
Cal men’s and women’s swimmers posted impressive performances this past week at the 2013 World University Games in Kazan, Russia.
On the first day of competition, Cal women’s swimmers Rachael Acker and Liv Jensen led the United States to a second-place finish in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay on Wednesday. Sophomore Acker led off the relay while recent Cal graduate Jensen swam the second leg to help bring the United States to a time of 3:38.60.
The United States trailed Russia by less than half a millisecond to garner silver in the evening final.
Cal men’s swimmer Jacob Pebley entered the finals on Thursday with the competition’s third-best time in the 100-meter backstroke after leading both his opening heat and preliminary race on Wednesday. Pebley clocked a time of 54.32 in his first heat and 54.14 in the prelims.
In Thursday’s final, the rising sophomore and native of Oregon added to Cal’s medal haul after posting his best competition time of 54.11 to capture the bronze medal. Pebley finished behind Australia’s Ben Treffers and Japan’s Yuki Shirai by 0.025 seconds.
He will compete in the 50-meter back prelims on Friday and in the 200-meter back prelims on Sunday.
“We are very proud of Jacob’s bronze medal in the 100 backstroke,” said Cal coach David Durden of Pebley. “Representing our country and earning his way onto the medal stand is truly world-class.”
Cal women’s basketball’s Reshanda Gray to move on with Team USA to World University Games Finals
On Friday in Kazan, Russia, Cal women’s basketball forward Reshanda Gray did work down in the post to defensively aid Team USA to a victory in the World University Games quarterfinals.
The rising junior posted six points, four rebounds and one assist in her team’s 103-72 victory over Sweden, but USA head coach Sherri Coale lauded Gray more so for her defensive contributions to the team.
“Reshanda Gray was tremendous tonight,” Coale said after the quarterfinal game on Friday. “She came in and defended the post with great activity. She blocked out, (and) she scored a couple of times at the block through a lot of physicality.”
The Southern California native shot two for three from the field and the line, accumulating a .846 record from the field after the Friday matchup at the World University Games.
On Saturday, Gray aided Team USA to its narrow 79-78 victory over Australia in the tournament semifinals. Although her team led by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter, Australia battled back to lead with a one-point margin over Team USA in the final seconds of the game.
USA teammate Crystal Bradford eventually scored the game-winning basket with 14 seconds left in the final quarter to secure Team USA’s spot in the gold-medal match on Monday.
Team USA will look to garner its third straight gold medal in the women’s basketball competition against host Russia in the finals.
Women’s golf’s Hannah Suh finds success at 2013 Trans National Amateur Championship
Rising sophomore Hannah Suh and amateur Ashlan Ramsey of Milledgeville, GA, were tied at two-under par when they entered the final round of the Trans National Amateur Championship in Truckee, Calif.
After nine holes on Friday, Ramsey was five down before shooting several birdies on the back nine to pull to within one stroke going into the 72nd hole. But while her birdie putt narrowly slid past the hole, Suh sank an eight-foot par putt to claim the prestigious title.
Suh initially trailed Ramsey by five strokes through the first 36 holes. However, she came back with her best nine-hole performance in the tournament with 33 over the front nine.
Suh ended up defeating Ramsey by one single stroke with a final round of 73.