After the first meet of the season for the No. 4 Cal men's gymnastics team, senior Tim McNeill didn't hesitate to answer when asked what he would like to accomplish by the end of his last season with the Bears: "We're No. 1 in my opinion, and I think we can win NCAAs this year."

Nothing's changed.

"The goals still remain the same as they've been all season-win an NCAA championship," McNeill said yesterday afternoon.

And now that the time has come. With the 2008 NCAA championships beginning today, the Bears have a few intangibles in their favor.

If Cal can't compete at home in the most important competition of the season, this is the next best thing.

There is no plane ride. No time change. No break in regular training.

It's only a 40-minute bus ride across the bay to Stanford-the host of this year's championships. The team was able to practice in its own gym on Monday before leaving for its hotel in Palo Alto, keeping travel time to a minimum.

"We're familiar with the gym and the layout of the arena," McNeill said. "It's a big advantage to not have to get on a plane and do the whole traveling thing. I know other teams flew in on Monday to get used to everything, and we're already used to everything."

But even with the advantage of locality, the NCAA title will not be easily won, as twelve of the nation's elite teams will compete today at Maples Pavilion. Still, the Bears have already seen most of these teams throughout the season.

Only two weeks ago, Cal competed alongside top-ranked Stanford, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 10 Nebraska and No. 15 Air Force at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships.

All five teams will send competitors to Maples Pavilion, and the Bears hope they do not recreate the same third-place performance from that weekend.

"It's motivating because we felt that some of the teams that beat us-Stanford and Oklahoma-were maybe maxed out," McNeill said. "But looking at our performance, although we had a good meet, there are still a lot of areas that we could improve. So it's encouraging to think that if we had a perfect meet we could come out on top."

While the team feels they still have more to give, there is one added difficulty that they did not have at the MPSF championships-the NCAAs are a three-day event, leaving plenty of time for fatigue to set in.

"It's definitely a lot more taxing on your body and we've tried to keep that in mind," McNeill said.

As a three-time NCAA champion, McNeill understands what constant competition can do to a gymnast's body.

In order to help McNeill defend his NCAA titles on the parallel bars and pommel horse, and to help the rest of the team, the Bears turned their practice gym into a competition floor.

"We tried to simulate the two-day competitions," McNeill said. "We did practice meets two days in a row last week and we got through it all right. I think we're in good enough shape that multiple competitions shouldn't be too big of a problem."

The team has tried to recreate competition-like circumstances throughout the season, and McNeill hopes that his training will carry him through any individual pressures he may encounter.

"I would certainly like to repeat as pommel horse and parallel bar champion, and maybe subconsciously there is more pressure," McNeill said. "But the only thing I need to think about is that we've done all the work and we've prepared as much as possible. So now, whatever happens, happens."

Tags: NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP