2009 World team member Tim McNeill will replace Barry Wiener as head coach of the Cal men's program, the University of California-Berkeley announced Wednesday.
McNeill, 24, is the most decorated athlete in Cal history. Between 2005 and 2008, he won five NCAA titles, three on pommel horse and two on parallel bars. In 2009, he had a breakout elite season, finishing second all-around at the U.S. Championships.
At the World Championships two months later, McNeill was the top American in the all-around, finishing seventh. He finished fifth on pommel horse in event finals.
In January 2010, McNeill moved to the U.S. Olympic Training Center under Vitaly Maritinch but withdrew from the American Cup due to nagging injuries and did not participate in the July's Japan Cup. A personal matter kept him out of the gym for most of the summer.
McNeill volunteered to coach the Cal men through the U.S. Championships after Wiener announced his resignation from the Cal program in June.
McNeill inherits a program that is traditionally very strong but has been rocked by funding cuts and is in danger of being eliminated if it cannot come up with some money that would make it at least partly self-funded within the next few years.
Cal has already ensured that it will be around in 2011, but the future of the program remains tenuous.
Related: Help save Cal men's gymnastics! Click here.
Related: Read an earlier Examiner.com interview with Tim McNeill from February 2010 here.
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Comments
Does this mean Tim McNeill is retiring? Also, did you see Justin Spring in a Proactiv commercial? (Or at least someone who looks like him)
Yes that is Justin Spring. Haha
As far as I know, Tim hasn't confirmed his retirement to anyone. I'm not sure one can be an NCAA head coach and still train seriously. But we'll see, I guess. -- Blythe
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