UCLA hosts the Storer Classic tournament for University of California system teams, and it's now a bit of an institution as a kick-starter for college teams on the West Coast.
The host Bruins are frequent contenders for 2nd in an event that never seen anyone not named Cal win. And this year is no exception. With a nice influx of young talent, notably halfback Shane Barry, and with players such as Ben Broselle, Eric Naposki, and Paddy Regan coming into their own, this is a UCLA team with a ton of potential.
Meanwhile, Cal is coming off its two-week training camp.
"The plan is for the whole of the travel squad to get time on the field," said head coach Jack Clark. Cal has lost No. 8 Thomas Robles and prop Kevin Sullivan, but now expects the likes of Jack Iscaro and Damon Wiley (both in the front row) to lead.
Some of the other forwards who have made good early impressions include juniors Owen Duvall, senior Brian Joyce and sophomore Jack Manzo.
Junior George Salter and senior Ben Casey are among the top returning locks with incumbent starter Sebastian Bader, a junior, out with injury to start the season. Sophomore Sam Golla and freshman Max Murphy are also off to a strong start in the second row.
The back row begins with two returning starters in junior Thomas Spradling at flanker and senior captain Nic Mirhashem joining him. Unfortunately, No. 8 Corma Heaney sustained an injury in camp, but that opens up opportunities for junior Sid Holland as well as freshmen Luke Freeman and Jason Severance.
Having lost All-American Justin Dunn and starter Aidan Flynn to graduation, the Bears' options in the backline include seniors Troy Lockyear, who moved from flyhalf to fullback, and wing Zachary Tavenner; juniors Sam Cusano, a wing, center Christian Dyer and scrumhalf Keanu Andrade; and sophomore center Seth Purdey. Senior flyhalf Elliot Webb has also shown good form in camp. Additional backs of note at this early stage of the season include junior scrumhalf Ken Kurihara, freshmen scrumhalf Henry Poon, and flyhalf Sam Walsh, sophomore midfielders Kevin Saunders and Adam Roeske, and sophomore winger Marcus Shankland.
"Every season there seem to be players who push their names into the starting competition conversation through persistence and quality performances," Clark said. "I am hoping we have competition within our depth chart."
The Storer Classic is named after Dennis Storer, who was a longtime coach at UCLA and was the first coach of the USA Men's National Team in the modern era.
UCLA takes on UC San Diego, UC Irvine, and UC Santa Cruz on Saturday, while Cal faces UCSC and Claremont Colleges. UCLA and Cal then face off on Sunday.
Cal media release contributed to this report