The Best of the Bears, Part 8: Cal's Top Athletes of the 1980s

Women joined the party in collegiate athletics in the 1980s. And Cal produced its share of elite female stars in the early Title IX era.

The latest installment of The Best of the Bears spotlights two women whose achievements endured long past the 1980s.

Basketball player Colleen Galloway set the Bears’ career scoring record in 1981 and held that mark until 2019, a span of 38 seasons.

Swimmer Mary T. Meagher, whose dominance earned her the nickname “Madame Butterly,” set world records in the 100- and 200-meter butterfly that remained on the books for more than 18 years in a sport where records often are eclipsed before the ink dries.

Matt Biondi and Kirk Everist, perhaps Cal’s best ever in men’s swimming and water polo, respectively, rose to prominence in this decade. And Ron Rivera and Hardy Nickerson, two of the Bears’ greatest linebackers, delivered memorable seasons.

Here are Cal’s top athletes for each year of the 1980s:

1979-80: PAR ARVIDSSON (swimming). Arvidsson won the 100- and 200-yard butterfly events at the NCAA championships, leading the Bears to the national title. He then set a world record in the 100-meter butterfly that summer at the U.S. nationals before claiming a gold medal in the same event for his native Sweden in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Also: Doug True (basketball), Rod Booker (baseball), Margee MacFarland Curran (swimming).

Colleen Galloway

Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

1980-81: COLLEEN GALLOWAY (basketball). Cal’s first great women’s basketball player, Galloway led the Bears in scoring four straight seasons, including 19.7 points per game as a senior in ’80-81, finishing with a career average of 18.4 points per game. She also averaged 7.9 rebounds that season as the Bears went 23-13, won the NorCal Conference (women’s basketball became a Pac-10 sport in 1896-87) and advanced to the WNIT. Galloway was an honorable mention All-America selection as a junior and senior and was an all-conference pick all four seasons. She held Cal’s career scoring record with 2,320 points for 38 seasons until Kristine Anigwe eclipsed it in 2018-19. Galloway scored a then-school record 40 points against Weber State as a sophomore and posted five other career games of at least 30. Galloway’s No. 13 is the only Cal women’s jersey number that has been retired. Also: Rich Campbell (football), Larry Cowling (track & field).

*** Colleen Galloway talks in the video below about the changes she has seen in women's college basketball since her era:

1981-82: MARK McNAMARA (basketball). The 6-foot-11 senior center averaged 22.0 points, 12.6 rebounds and shot 70.2 percent — a statistical combination achieved by only three other Pac-12 players (UCLA's Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton and Arizona State's Ike Diogu) — to land a spot on the All-Pac-10 first team. He shares the Cal record with six career games of at least 30 points, including a high of 37 vs. Seattle Pacific and 36 vs. UCLA. McNamara also assembled four games of 20 or more rebounds. He arrived at Cal as a transfer from Santa Clara after the 1978-79 season and wound up scoring 1,750 career points at the two schools. McNamara went on to play eight seasons in the NBA and a year professionally in Italy. He died late last month at the age of 60. Also: Louise Romo (track & field), Sylvie Monnet (volleyball).

1982-83: HARVEY SALEM (football). Salem started all four years at offensive tackle for the Bears, won All-Pac-10 honors for the second straight season and was named an All-American by the Sporting News as a senior. A second-round draft choice by the Houston Oilers, he played 10 NFL seasons, starting 107 career games. Also: Peter Cutino Jr. (water polo), Shellie Instead (field hockey).

Ron Rivera

Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

1983-84: RON RIVERA (football). Rivera began his senior season by tackling a Texas A&M ballcarrier in the end zone for a game-winning safety in the season opener. The linebacker went on record 26.5 tackles for loss — still Cal’s school record — to collect first-team All-America honors. During his nine seasons playing for the Chicago Bears, Rivera was a member of the 1985 Super Bowl championship team. He spent nine seasons as head coach of the Carolina Panthers, directing the team to the Super Bowl after the 2015 campaign, and now is beginning his first season as coach of the NFL’s Washington franchise. Also: Alan Gresham (water polo), Lance Blankenship (baseball), Gale Gilbert (football).

1984-85: MARY T. MEAGHER (swimming). The first Cal woman to claim an NCAA swim title (1983), Meagher won six individual collegiate championships, including both the 100 and 200 butterfly in 1985. She was so dominant that her 1981 world-record times in the 100- and 200-meter butterfly both stood for more than 18 years. In the meantime, “Madame Butterfly” won three gold medals — including both of her specialty events — at the ’84 Los Angeles Olympics, setting an Olympic record in the 200 butterly. Also: Don James Jr. (rugby).

Hardy Nickerson

Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

1985-86: HARDY NICKERSON (football). A junior linebacker, Nickerson set a Cal single-season record with 167 tackles that survived until broken last fall by Evan Weaver, and was named to the All-Pac-10 first team. Nickerson finished his career No. 2 on the school’s list with 501 tackles. A fifth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1987 draft, Nickerson played 16 NFL seasons, compiling 1,586 tackles with 14 fumble recoveries and 12 interceptions. He was a two-time first-team All-Pro selection, a five-time Pro Bowl pick and was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Team of the 1990s second team. Also: Mike Deleray (soccer), Kirsten O’Hara (cross country).

Matt Biondi

Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

1986-87: MATT BIONDI (swimming): Biondi won 12 NCAA titles from over his final three seasons at Cal, including sweeps of the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle races as a junior and senior. In ’87, he set NCAA records in all three events. A year later, Biondi dominated the pool at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, winning five gold medals (including the 50 and 100 free), a silver and a bronze. He set 12 world records during his career. His eight gold medals in three Olympic appearances are third-most among all male swimmers and his 11 total medals are tied for second.. Biondi is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. Also: Kevin Johnson (basketball), Jennifer Bennett (basketball), Brandi Chastain (soccer).

1987-88: KIRK EVERIST (water polo). Everist was an All-America choice in both 1987 and ’88 while leading Cal to NCAA championships both seasons. He scored 205 goals in his Cal career. Everist subsequently played for the U.S. team at the 1992 and ’96 Olympics. As the Bears’ coach since 2002, Everist guided the program to national titles in 2006, ’07 and ’16. Also: Gary Hein (rugby), Joy Biefeld (soccer), Karl Nisula (track & field), Todd Mayo (baseball).

1988-89: LEONARD TAYLOR (basketball). Taylor, a power forward who sat out the previous season-and-a-half due to injury, finished his Cal career with a flourish, averaging 19.7 points and 8.2 rebound as a senior to earn first-team All-Pac-10 honors. He was named team MVP both as a true freshman in 1985 and again in ’89. In between, he was the Bears’ most inspiration player in 1987. Taylor scored at least 30 points on five occasions and wound up with 1,608 career points, which still ranks him ninth all-time at Cal.

Click here for Part 2 of the series: Top Cal athletes of the 1920s

Click here for Part 3 of the series: Top Cal athletes of the 1930s

Click here for Part 4 of the series: Top Cal athletes of the 1940s

Click here for Part 5 of the series: Top Cal athletes of the 1950s

Click here for Part 6 of the series: Top Cal athletes of the 1960s

Click here for Part 7 of the series: Top Cal athletes of the 1970s

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @JeffFaraudo

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