The 2009 Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool in Manchester, England, will feature three members of the Cal men’s swimming team. Junior Nathan Adrian, senior Sean Mahoney and coach David Durden will represent Team USA in the bi-annual competition on Dec. 18-19.

The format is much different compared with more traditional international competitions. This year, the Americans will have to hold off a team of top swimmers from Great Britain, Germany and Italy. The three past Duels matched an Australian squad against the U.S. team, which is undefeated in the event.

Unlike many other swimming competitions, this one is more geared toward a television audience and intended to more prominently highlight the best of the best in the swimming world. There is also a nice monetary component – a world-record breaking swim will amount to a $15,000 prize, while gold medal winners will rake in $1,000.

Team USA drew its team from top performers at the 2009 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships, U.S. Open, FINA World Championships and World University Games.

Adrian is second in American record books in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle races. Both historic swims occurred at the World Championships, though the 48.00-second 100-meter freestyle took place in the event’s trials. He captured both of those events at the ConocoPhillips National Championships, and anchored the American team to a gold medal in the 400-meter relay at the 2009 FINA World Championships.

Mahoney also lays claim to a second-fastest American time in his signature event, the 200-meter breaststroke. He clocked in at 2:09.70 seconds at the World University Games.

In just three years at Cal, Durden has coached 16 All-Americans and has led the Bears to consecutive fourth-place finishes at the NCAA Championships.

…Cal softball catcher Sanoe Kekahuna.

I ran into Sanoe at the Cal-WSU game and talked to her for a few minutes. Actually, she said that she was ready to tackle me because I had been celebrating the Cougars beating the spread. After settling her down (only kidding, Sanoe is as calm as they come), we talked a little softball and the shake-up that has been occurring due to the addition of some solid freshman.

Kekahuna, who played the majority of the games behind the plate, may be moving back to first where she spent the majority of her freshman year, as freshman Lindsey Ziegenhirt may move to catcher.

According to Calbears.com, Ziegenhirt is “ a highly decorated athlete. She earned All-America honors from ESPN/Under Armor, EA Sports and the NFCA in 2008. Ziegenhirt also collected first-team all-league, district and state honors in 2008 and was selected as the 2007 Delta River League Player of the Year. Last season, Ziegenhirt produced a .446 batting average, with 47 RBI, 14 doubles and six home runs. Sheldon was ranked as high as No. 3 in the country in 2007 and reached No. 1 in the national rankings last season, before ending the season ranked fourth. Ziegenhirt was also on the same Lady Magic ASA team as (Jolene)Henderson that captured the national title.”

And it gets better for the Bears, who finally will be adding a third pitcher to the mix — taking the load off of Marissa Drewrey and Valerie Arioto — with the coming of Jolene Henderson. (Click here to read more…)

If the feature on his style wasn’t enough, then you are in luck. Patrick Christopher actually called me at about 10 p.m. on Friday night after the interview, asking if I would email him the questions, so he could maybe add a little more than what he had said in the 15 minute interview.

The guy is a catch. For an athlete to do this is above and beyond any and all expectations. My dad once told me of a famous Milwaukee Brewer (hint: he’s in the Hall of Fame now), who spit on my father’s  shoes when he tried to ask him a few questions for a feature.

Needless to say, Christopher is a gem. So as a sort of thank you to P. Chris here is how he responded via email to my questions. Most of these never made it to print. So here goes (consider all answers sic’d):

How would you define your style?

I would define it as versatile, classic, timeless, confident, daring. It’s probably more Euro because I prefer my clothes to fit slim. Versatile: because I’m not set on one style of clothing. I love a well tailored suit, but a vintage T, some levi’s and a pair of purcell’s or Air Force One’s can also get the job done. Classic: because Class never goes out of style. You can’t go wrong. Timeless: I would say because with certain things I put together comes from different era’s, and that ties into classic clothing. Confident: simply because I think I can pull anything off.

A guy may look at me like what the heck am I wearing and I’ll get a compliment from a girl. At the end of the day, I dress for myself, but people always have something to say no matter what you do in life. So with that being said, a compliment from a girl can max out 100 guys looking at me crazy. And I say daring because I’m not afraid to dress. Most males in America are afraid to dress because the perception that they may think other people have about them. And that’s something I would say does not effect me. When you allow people to influence you, you turn into them and not yourself.

(Click here to read more…)

There will be no byes in this season’s upcoming NorPac Tournament. A first round bye is usually awarded to the top-seeded team in the conference, but not this year.

With UC Davis entering the NorPac, the conference now has four teams in the East and four in the West. And rather than seeding overall, the teams will be ranked within each division.

This year’s tournament shakeup means that even the top seeds will play in the first round, but for the first time in four years, that has no bearing on the Cal field hockey team.

For the first time since 2005, the Bears were denied the No. 1 seed in the conference. Friday’s 4-2 loss to Stanford allowed the Cardinal to clinch the division, and placed Cal securely in the No. 2 position.

The second-seeded Bears will face the No. 3-seed in the East—either Davidson or Appalachian State—in the first round of the tournament.

So there will be no bye—except for this week. (Click here to read more…)

Welcome back to “Points and Shoot,” where great photography meets Cal athletics each week on the sports blog.

Daily Cal photographer Skyler Reid captured Bears defensive lineman Cameron Jordan taking down Washington State quarterback Jeff Tuel.

Jordan finished the game with 2.5 sacks and six tackles as Cal defeated the Cougars, 49-17, on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

The Bears improved to 2-2 in the Pac-10, although their last two games came against what could be the two worst teams in the conference in UCLA and WSU. Their next test takes place on Halloween against Arizona State at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.

For more coverage of the Cal football team, click here and here. To see more of Skyler Reid’s work, check this out. For more photos from the world of Bears athletics, head over to the This Week in Cal Sports slideshow.

Earlier this week, Cal volleyball coach Rich Feller said the team was going to be watching more video of itself before practice each day. The idea was to get the squad to recognize more of its own tendencies and mistakes. Looks like it worked.

This weekend, the Bears ran all over Arizona and Arizona State, hitting an average of .379 while holding their opponents to a .132 mark. Not too shabby, especially in conference play.

“I feel like the video (session before practice) was 40 minutes long instead of 20,” setter Carli Lloyd said. “We’re doing podcasting so we get videos at home.”

The podcasting Lloyd speaks of involves iTunes. Assistant coach Matt McShane loads videos onto iTunes, so that the players can watch their game tape whenever they’re in front of a computer. Pretty handy.

But the learning from video didn’t end with practice for the Bears this week. The team added extra meetings and study sessions to get even more out of their video sessions.

“We meet as a team now without the coaches and do video. And that’s even bigger for all of us,” Lloyd added. “I send out to the setters questions and they have to send me answers. We discuss it and try to have a game plan as a team rather than having the coaches do all the work.”

Apparently, it pays to do your homework.

Well, it’s that sad time of year again.  Midterms, finals, coldness (kinda) and senior day.

Really, it’s a bittersweet ceremony, where the inevitable four-year cycle of collegiate athletic attrition comes to a close. Home careers end, but are also celebrated and remembered.

Such a day will transpire this Sunday when the No. 20 Cal men’s soccer team takes on San Diego State. Before the game the Bears will honor their five seniors: forward Jeff Cosgriff, goalkeeper Patrick Fry, defender Imman Kerchgani, defender Evan Sassano and defender Jacob Wilson.

But when something comes to an end, its only natural to look forward, especially in the cyclical world of athletics.

As they say, there is always next season.

So when looking forward what will the 2010 Bears look like?

Well, it will look quite a lot like the 2009 edition, but a growing youth movement will do its best to crack into the starting lineup.

With no offense intended toward the talented class of seniors this year, Cal will only lose three starters all of whom have proven back-ups waiting in the wings. (Click here to read more…)

If you think water polo isn’t a contact sport, think again.

During the Cal men’s water polo team’s game against Santa Clara on Sunday at Spieker Aquatics Complex, sophomore Travis Bickham (with ball) got tangled up with Broncos utility Brett Zylstra.

Bickham seems to have water in his eyes, but he probably didn’t have a bad taste in his mouth after Sunday’s 13-9 victory for the Bears.

This week’s “Points and Shoot” image is brought to you by Daily Cal photographer Victoria Chow.

For more coverage of the Cal men’s water polo team, click here. Also, check out “This Week in Cal Sports” for a slideshow of Bears athletics.

Hopefully, that’ll hold you over until next week!

Welcome back to “Points and Shoot,” a weekly series featuring the most amazing and visually pleasing photo from the last week in Bears athletics.

The Cal men’s swimming team began its 2009-10 campaign this weekend, defeating Hawaii on Friday and Pacific on Saturday at Spieker Aquatics Complex.

Daily Cal photographer Anna Hiatt covered the Bears’ meet against the Rainbow Warriors, and  we are grateful that she snapped this mid-race image.

Cal heads to Stockton, Calif., this weekend as part of the Pacific Invitational, but the Bears won’t compete in Berkeley again until Nov. 11 for the Triple-Distance Meet.

For complete coverage of the pool, check out the Cal men’s swimming page on the Daily Cal website. For more photos by Anna Hiatt, click here. May we also suggest “This Week in Cal Sports,” a full slideshow of snapshots from the previous week in Bears athletics?

The annual Big Splash against currently undefeated Stanford won’t be played until Nov. 21, when the Cal men’s water polo team makes the trip across the Bay.

But even though the conference match is still over a month away, the No. 4 Bears will soon likely face the top-ranked Cardinal for the second time this fall.

The two teams are expected to meet in the semifinals of the SoCal Invitational at UC Irvine this Sunday, with Cal eager for revenge after being edged 8-6 in the NorCal Invitational semis three weeks ago.

Just ask junior Zach White, who was knocked out with a concussion in that game and sat out Cal’s next two matches.

“I really want to win this game and shove it down their throats,” the starting center said. “If we blow them out and just keep running up the score, I would gladly beat them 100-0 to make them look really bad, even if it makes us look like assholes.”

Unfortunately for the Bears, blowing out Stanford will be a next to impossible task. Cal is currently riding a three-game losing streak to Stanford heading into the weekend, but the losses have come by a total of four points.

The Bears’ last win against the Cardinal? The third-place match of the MPSF Championship in 2007, a victory that gave Cal the at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and an eventual national title.

This year, Stanford is again anchored in the cage by goalkeeper Jimmie Sandman. The All-American was named Co-MPSF Player of the Year and was a finalist for the Peter J. Cutino Award, given to the top player in the nation.

And if his accolades and 6-foot-5 frame weren’t intimidating enough, just take a look at the man’s beard.

On the offensive end, the Cardinal is powered by the Wigo brothers, Drac and Janson, who won the last two MPSF Player of the Week awards. Both scored 55 goals last season to lead the team.

Stanford’s lineup would be truly frightening if it hadn’t lost senior attacker Sage Wright, the team’s third-leading scorer last season. Wright tore his ACL this past summer and is redshirting this fall to retain eligibility for next year.

But even if the Cardinal roster looks stacked on paper, games between top teams are always close enough for wins to go either way.

And a bit of good, ol’-fashioned loathing might be enough fuel to tip it in favor of White and the rest of the Bears.

Said White: “I just really, really don’t like them right now.”