STANFORD, Calif.-For the No. 4 Cal men's gymnastics team, there was just as much talk about who competed in the first day of the NCAA championships as who did not.

Three-time NCAA champion Tim McNeill only competed in one event on the night, jeopardizing the Bears' chances of qualifying for the team finals.

"We made a decision to compete Tim on only one event this evening and it was very risky because he's our best gymnast on many events," head coach Barry Weiner said. "You don't know if you're going to get a good enough score to advance, but Tim's back is really sore and we wanted him to be rested and healthy for tomorrow."

But in the absence of one of the Bears' most talented gymnasts, the team took third on the evening and earned a spot in tonight's team finals.

Without McNeill, junior Kyson Bunthuwong helped bolster the score to keep the team in contention.

Bunthuwong finished first on the parallel bars and third in the all-around to help the team qualify and prevent Cal from reliving last year's fate.

"Last year we had a good meet with the exception of pommel horse and we missed five of our six pommel horse routines and we didn't advance," Weiner said. "I can't begin to tell you how painful it is to know that it's in your hands and know that you're capable, and then show up the next day and watch the team finals."

This year, the Bears will be on the competition floor of Maples Pavilion instead of in the bleachers, but that hasn't satisfied some of the doubts.

"No one really expects Cal to compete for the championship tomorrow so we are just going to let it all hang out and try not be afraid," Weiner said. "We just want to be really bold and aggressive and I don't think anyone is interested if you come in fifth or sixth-it doesn't really matter."

McNeill hopes to return to full strength tonight and silence the skeptics, but it will be difficult to topple top-ranked Stanford after yesterday's qualifying meet. The Cardinal received a 363.850-a personal best and the highest NCAA score to date.

"Even though some of the routines weren't as sharp as we've had in previous meets, with the depth of the lineup, I saw that we would probably break our personal record," Stanford head coach Thom Glielmi said. "We have yet to count our best guys. We had a couple guys on pommel horse that we would normally count, but missed. So we know that there is room for even better scores and better results."

With the Cardinal's continued improvement, the Bears will need their full arsenal to keep pace-meaning McNeill's return to the lineup.

After finishing second on the pommel horse behind Illinois' Daniel Ribeiro last night, McNeill looks to defend the NCAA title he has won for the past two years.

"I'm getting more comfortable competing pommel horse at bigger meets," McNeill said. "So I think my confidence is a bit higher going into tomorrow's meet."

Tags: NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP