Cal softball alum Valerie Arioto is stealing all the spotlight recently.

The U.S. women’s national softball team took home its first gold medal of the summer on Friday at the Mayor’s Cup in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Led by Arioto’s .500 batting average, Team USA garnered gold after finishing the Caribbean tournament with a pristine 4-0 record, claiming wins over Canada, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Cuba.

After each team fought through several days of inclement weather and rain delays, the tournament officials decided to cancel the championship game, awarding the Mayor’s Cup title to No. 1 seed USA by default. As the No. 2 seed, Cuba took silver, and Canada came away with bronze.

But despite an otherwise anticlimatic end to the tournament, Arioto’s powerful presence on the field shone throughout the week as the former Cal softball star aided her team to victory after victory.

Arioto led the offense, batting three for six and collecting a home run, five RBIs and six walks. The one inning in which the star player pitched, Arioto struck out two batters from the circle.

All in all, the Eagles posted an overall impressive performance at the tournament, outscoring opponents 30-8 with the pitching staff combining for a 1.88 ERA.

On Saturday, Arioto continued her domination on the field during the first day of the Pan American Games Qualifier, also held in San Juan.

With a 1-0 score and three runners on at the bottom of the first, Arioto cleared the bases with a home run hit over the fence to produce a 5-0 score.

After Arioto’s grand slam, Team USA notched several runs, one after another, until the team was leading Aruba 11-0 by the end of the first.

The Eagles eventually conquered Aruba after three innings with a 16-0 victory on Saturday. Team USA will continue round-robin play in the Pan American Games against Brazil on Sunday.

Bears show enthusiasm as 2013 Cal volleyball training camp opens

Cal football isn’t the only team that has started training for the fall season.

The Cal volleyball team was out on the court early Saturday morning for its first practice of the 2013 season, with another practice scheduled for that afternoon.

“It was good to see everyone out there,” said Cal coach Rich Feller after practice. “There was lots of enthusiasm, as you would expect … The new kids seem to be fitting in really well and getting used to things. The returning players are setting a good example with the tempo and communication level.”

Cal has six new recruits on its roster, which includes an incoming freshman class ranked in the top 25 in the country. Middle blocker Jenelle Jordan, libero Maddy Kerr and setter Alyssa Jensen will join returning starters like Joan Caloiaro and Adrienne Gehan on the team.

In addition, rising junior Michelle Neumayr will return to play for the Bears after sitting on the sidelines for the past two years. As one of the nation’s most highly recruited players coming out of high school, Neumayr suffered season-ending injuries in her first two years at Cal, preventing her from getting any play time. But the outside hitter is looking to return to the court to make her contributions to the squad.

“It felt great to finally be back out there,” Neumayr said. “At first, there were some jitters. I was nervous and excited. But once I started playing, it was a lot of fun.”

The Bears will open the season with the Cal Molten Classic at Haas Pavilion on Aug. 30.

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Come September, fans will have an opportunity to get an inside look at Cal football.

Cal and Arizona State will be featured on “The Drive,” a new series that will air on Pac-12 networks beginning Sept. 11.

“The Drive” is similar to HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” which follows NFL teams during the offseason and gives viewers a closer, more personal look at the teams it covers.

The show will air in 14 30-minute segments each Wednesday of the season. The episodes will feature footage that ranges from practices to meetings and everything in between.

“This show will be a great chance for people to get to know our coaching staff and players and will provide a unique perspective on what happens with Cal football on a day-to-day basis,” said Cal coach Sonny Dykes to Cal Athletics. “The more people know about the way we run our program, the more proud they are going to be of Cal football.“

Ohio State running back Carlos Hyde suspended for game against Cal

Though Cal football’s 2013 schedule is one of the most difficult in the country, things just got the slightest bit easier.

Cal will not have to deal with Ohio State running back Carlos Hyde when the two teams meet on Sept. 14.

Hyde was recently suspended for “at least the first three games of the 2013 season,” according to Ohio State coach Urban Meyer.

Hyde’s suspension is due to an alleged altercation in a nightclub that led to a police investigation. Hyde will not be charged after police decided to close the case against him. However, he will still serve a suspension with the school for his conduct, which Meyer called “unacceptable.”

The 242-pound Hyde ran for 970 yards and 16 touchdowns for the Buckeyes last year and was the team’s leading scorer. He also missed last year’s game against Cal with a sprained MCL.

Though the news improves the Bears’ chances, it will still be a tall order to knock off the No. 2 team in the nation, especially when that team previously beat the Bears without their starting running back last year.

400 medley team disqualified at World Championships

Missy Franklin may have dominated, but things did not go so well for Cal alum Nathan Adrian at the FINA World Championships in Barcelona.

Team USA was disqualified from the the 400-meter medley relay on Sunday after Kevin Cordes took off 0.04 seconds early. Cordes is just 19 and was competing in his first World Championships ever.

The team put in a 3:30.06 time that looked like it would be good enough for first place. But the disqualification stunned Team USA and awarded France the gold medal with a 3:31.51 finish.

The kicker in all this is that the rules state that a swimmer is allowed a 0.03 second leeway — meaning Cordes took off just 0.01 seconds more than is allowed. In addition, the United States has never lost the 400 medley except when the team has been disqualified.

“That’s like a punch in the gut right there,” said Team USA coach Bob Bowman.

The post Sports in brief — August 5, 2013 appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Michael Tao/Staff

Football season is close at last.

Cal football released the schedule for training camp on Friday. Practices begin on Monday and will be held every day from Aug. 5 to Aug. 24, and all will be open to the public.

Dates and times for each practice are listed below. Fans are welcome to attend by entering through the north gate of Memorial Stadium at the stated time. However, they are asked to not take photos or videos.

• Monday, Aug. 5 (5 p.m.): Helmets
• Tuesday, Aug. 6 (5 p.m.): Helmets
• Wednesday, Aug. 7 (5 p.m.): Helmets
• Thursday, Aug. 8 (5 p.m.): Helmets
• Friday, Aug. 9 (5 p.m.): Helmets
• Saturday, Aug. 10 (4 p.m.): Pads
• Sunday, Aug. 11 (4 p.m.): Pads
• Monday, Aug. 12 (9:30 a.m.): Freshman Developmental Practice
• Monday, Aug. 12 (4:30 p.m.): Pads
• Tuesday, Aug. 13 (4:30 p.m.): Pads
• Wednesday, Aug. 14 (9:30 a.m.): Freshman Developmental Practice
• Wednesday, Aug. 14 (4:30 p.m.): Pads
• Thursday, Aug. 15 (9:30 a.m.): Freshman Developmental Practice
• Thursday, Aug. 15 (4:30 p.m.): Pads
• Friday, Aug. 16 (9:30 a.m.): Freshman Developmental Practice
• Friday, Aug. 16 (4:30 p.m.): Pads
• Saturday, Aug. 17 (4 p.m.): Pads
• Sunday, Aug. 18 (4 p.m.): Pads
• Monday, Aug. 19 (4 p.m.): Pads
• Tuesday, Aug. 20 (4 p.m.): Pads
• Wednesday, Aug. 21 (4 p.m.): Pads
• Thursday, Aug. 22 (4 p.m.): Pads
• Friday, Aug. 23 (4 p.m.): Pads
• Saturday, Aug. 24 (11 a.m.): Pregame Simulation/Helmets

For information on the quarterback battle and other major story lines to watch for during the camp, check out the Daily Cal’s fall training camp preview here.

See the full press release by Cal Athletics here.

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Michael Tao/Staff

On the bright side, Sonny Dykes and company certainly will have plenty of chances to prove themselves next season.

The first USA Today Coaches’ Poll of 2013 was released yesterday, and Cal will have one of the toughest schedules in college football.

The Bears face No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 Stanford, No. 21 UCLA, No. 22 Northwestern, No. 24 USC and No. 25 Oregon State. That’s seven games against top-25 opponents — among the most of any team in the country.

Four of those games will take place at home at Memorial Stadium, while the other three — Oregon, Stanford and UCLA — will be away games.

Cal’s schedule is so tough that it was recently ranked the No. 3 toughest schedule for 2013 by Phil Steele — behind only Florida and Oklahoma.

The Bears, of course, begin their season by hosting Northwestern. As a team on the edge of the rankings, Northwestern will provide the perfect litmus test for the Bears. Even keeping the game close would be a statement after Cal’s 3-9 season last year, in which the only ranked team that the Bears knocked off was then-No. 25 UCLA.

The tough schedule reflects both the strength of the Pac-12 and the challenges that Cal has made for itself in its nonconference scheduling. The Pac-12 is tied for the second-highest number of ranked teams with the Big 10 at five. The SEC, with six ranked teams, has the most.

Cal was not among the top 25, nor was it a team that ranked outside of the top 25 that also received some votes. However, Pac-12 foes Arizona, Washington and Arizona State did receive votes. Cal plays Arizona and Washington in 2013.

The Coaches’ Poll is based on the rankings of 62 FBS coaches, most of which are from the major football conferences.

Although the numbers look daunting, facing ranked opponents is the easiest way to catapult a team into the top rankings itself.

The full list of rankings is given below. The number of first-place votes for each team are placed in parentheses.

1. Alabama (58)
2. Ohio State (3)
3. Oregon
4. Stanford
5. Georgia
6. Texas A&M (1)
7. South Carolina
8. Clemson
9. Louisville
10. Florida
11. Notre Dame
12. Florida State
13. LSU
14. Oklahoma State
15. Texas
16. Oklahoma
17. Michigan
18. Nebraska
19. Boise State
20. TCU
21. UCLA
22. Northwestern
23. Wisconsin
24. USC
25. Oregon State

Source: USA Today

Contact Riley McAtee at rmcatee@dailycal.org

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Future Cal women’s swimmer Missy Franklin and Cal alumna Natalie Coughlin both led Team USA to the top on Sunday at the 2013 FINA World Swimming Championships, held at the Palau Saint Jordi in Barcelona, Spain. On the first day of Worlds, Franklin led off the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, after which Coughlin swam the second leg to help the U.S. team break a previous American record time with 3:32.31 in the final.

Although No. 2 Australia led the relay for a majority of the race, Franklin, Coughlin and the rest of Team USA narrowly edged the second-place Australian team by only 0.12 seconds to take home the gold.

Three other Cal women’s alumnae posted impressive performances on the first day of the championships, with 25-year old Lauren Boyle garnering bronze in the 400-meter freestyle.

A native of Auckland, New Zealand, Boyle captured New Zealand’s first medal at Worlds since 1994 with the fourth-fastest time in qualifying and third-best in the final.

Meanwhile, Dana Vollmer, the current world record-holder and 2012 Olympic gold medalist in the 100-meter butterfly, qualified for Monday’s 100-fly final by posting the fourth-fastest time in the Sunday semifinal. Other Cal alumna and 2012 Olympian Caitlin Leverenz qualified for the 200-meter individual medley final with seventh-best time in her event.

Future Cal Bear conquers field at 2013 Manhattan Beach Open

Maegan Manasse, one of the Cal women’s tennis recruits for the upcoming season, didn’t just win the Women’s Open Final at the 46th annual Manhattan Beach Open.

She dominated it.

A native of Southern California, Manasse didn’t lose even one set and only fell in two games throughout the entire four-day tournament, held at Live Oak Park last weekend.

After scoring a 6-2, 6-0 win over Beatrice Rosen as one of the top tournament seeds in the Women’s Open division semifinals, Manasse took down former UCLA alum Helen Tu with a double bagel win in the Women’s Open final.

The incoming Cal freshman aggressively took down Tu after a 45-minute final match in two sets, 6-0, 6-0, to capture the Women’s Open title.

“I have been watching her game grow the past couple of years, and she is amazing to watch,” Tu said after the final match. “She reminds me of myself 20 years ago, except she’s going to be a lot better.”

Manasse will only add more depth to Cal’s already formidable roster in the fall, as her strength in an offensive style of play currently places the new Cal recruit at No. 12 nationally in the women’s 18-and-under category.

The post Sports in Brief — July 28, 2013 appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Joshua Bessex at The Daily of Univ. of Washington/Courtesy

In just her second year as head coach, she took her team to its first Final Four appearance in school history and won a conference title. Now, she’s wrapped up with Cal for the next three seasons.

Lindsay Gottlieb signed a contract extension on Thursday that will make her a Bear through the 2017-18 season.

“I am thrilled to sign this extension with the University of California, and I am beyond grateful for the belief in me demonstrated by Sandy Barbour and Chancellor Dirks,” Gottlieb said in a statement to Cal Athletics.

While no contract details have been released, the extension comes a year early, as Gottlieb still had a season left under her old contract — showing the faith that the athletics department has in her leadership.

“I personally want her to be a Bear for a very long time, and I know that I represent our student athletes, administration and community in that sentiment,” said Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour.

Last year, the Bears put up a 32-4 record — the best ever for the 39-year old program.

“We have built something special in Berkeley,” Gottlieb said, “and the staff and team are hard at work to make sure this is only the beginning.”

Contact Riley McAtee at rmcatee@dailycal.org

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Cal’s Michael Kim fell just short of winning the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship on Saturday.

Kim went up against Jordan Niebrugge in the finals and immediately birdied the first hole to put himself in the lead. However, Niebrugge took the second hole, and the match was tied.

From then on, Kim fell behind. With 10 holes left, he was four holes back. It looked like a comeback would be impossible.

Then, the impossible began to happen.

The 36-hole match dragged on with Kim trailing. Niebrugge was playing nearly mistake-free; he didn’t hit a bogey in the first 30 holes. But on 13 — and the 31st hole of the match — he hit his first bogey. The race was on.

Kim started to slowly make up ground against Niebrugge, and the margin was soon at just one hole.

When the final hole came around, Kim was just one back. Tension hung in the air.

However, Kim’s fairway shot landed in the water hazard, and he had to take a penalty. Niebrugge, who was playing more conservatively, had no such problems. When he made par, the match was over, and Kim conceded defeat.

Kim was disappointed but not bitter.

“I just have to keep improving, and we’ll see what happens next year,” he said after the match.

Cal women’s basketball releases nonconference schedule

If there was any doubt about it before, let there be none now — the Cal women’s basketball team is an elite squad.

The team recently released its 2013-14 schedule, and the nonconference games are a doozy.

Cal plays both UConn and Duke, the two teams that are projected to start the year ranked at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. And the Huskies are the defending national champions. Other squads, like Georgetown, Pacific and Northwestern, will also not be easy matches.

The schedule reflects the changing identity that the Cal women’s basketball team has, as all the top teams want to play each other. It is now clear that Cal has earned that reputation among colleges across the country, no doubt due in large part to their Final Four appearance last season.

Though the schedule may be tough, it gives the Bears a chance to prove themselves as one of the top teams in the country. After all, if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.

Muhammad wins Cal-Hi Athlete of the Year for second year in a row

Cal football recruit Khalfani Muhammad just completed a feat that has not been accomplished for 109 years.

Muhammad was named the Cal-Hi Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row, something not done since 1904.

He also was only the third sprinter in state history to win state championships in the 100- and 200-meter sprints for two years running, an achievement that no doubt contributed to the award.

Muhammad will play running back for the Bears in the fall as a freshman.

The post Sports in Brief — July 22, 2013 appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Ann Caslin/Cal Athletics/Courtesy

Cal women’s basketball forward Reshanda Gray clinched a gold medal at the World University Games after Team USA defeated host nation Russia, 90-71, on Monday.

Gray, a junior from Los Angeles, was selected in a 12-player collegiate squad for Team USA on May 19 to participate in the competition held in Kazan, Russia. Throughout the tournament, Gray saw only limited minutes, and the gold medal game against the Russians was no different. Gray was brought out in the final minutes of the game when the win was safely in Team USA’s bag.

Despite limited playing time, Gray had her moments in the limelight during the tournament. In the 105-75 win over Brazil on July 10, Gray recorded 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting. In the narrow 103-74 quarterfinals victory over Sweden on July 12, Gray notched six points, four rebounds and one assist.

Contact Seung Y. Lee at sylee@dailycal.org Follow him on Twitter @sngyn92.

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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.

The post Sports in Brief — July 14, 2013 appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Michael Gethers/File

Cal guard Allen Crabbe, the Pac-12 player of the year, is taking his talents to to the Pacific Northwest.

The junior was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the first pick of the second round and 31st pick overall of the 2013 NBA draft on Thursday night. However, due to a draft-day trade, he will head to Portland to become a Trail Blazer, according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman. The Blazers gave up a pair of future second-rounders to Cleveland to take Crabbe.

Crabbe led the Bears in scoring with 18.4 points per game and was voted MVP of the Bears by his teammates. He is known as a sharpshooter with a .348 percentage from three and will provide offensive talent for the Blazers. Although Crabbe worked on his driving ability in his final year with the Bears, he will primarily fill the role of a spot-up shooter in the Blazers’ backcourt.

He will join C.J. McCollum, a point guard out of Lehigh whom the Blazers took with the 10th overall selection in the draft, in the Blazers’ backcourt. Crabbe will compete primarily with Wesley Mathews, the Blazers’ current starting shooting guard, for minutes.

Crabbe was projected by most experts as a late first-round pick and worked out with the Bulls, Timberwolves, Pacers, Cavaliers, Knicks, Nets, Celtics, Bucks, Jazz, Clippers and Suns before the draft — almost all of which had picks late in the first round. As a result, it was a surprise that Crabbe fell to the second round. Eventually, the Trail Blazers felt they needed to move up to take him despite the fact that the team never worked out Crabbe.

Crabbe chose to forgo his senior year at Cal to declare for the draft because he was projected as a first-rounder after a strong senior season, an opportunity he called “once in a lifetime” in an interview with Cal Athletics in May.

“Why not?” he said. “We just felt like we should go ahead and take the chance.”

Despite the fall to the second round, the selection is a dream come true for Crabbe, who showed his anticipation for weeks on Twitter.

“2 MO DAYS !!” Crabbe tweeted on Tuesday.

With the selection, Crabbe’s long wait, which was made even longer by the unexpected slide, is finally over.

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