May 5, 2011

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BERKELEY - California's Athletic Department lauded the academic achievements of the Golden Bears at its annual Student-Athlete Academic Honors Luncheon held Thursday at the Pauley Ballroom on campus.

The list of attendees included student-athletes who have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher, or have earned conference, regional or national academic honors, or have served the community as leaders or mentors.

The event was co-sponsored by the Big C Society and the Athletic Study Center. Derek Van Rheenen, the director of the ASC, served as emcee.

Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour gave the keynote address while Chancellor Robert Birgeneau also spoke to the audience. Brian Dudley, a senior men's water polo player and the recipient of a Pac-10 Postgraduate Scholarship, provided a student-athlete perspective as well.

Golden Bear Team Award
The Golden Bear Team Award is given to the varsity team with the highest cumulative grade point average. This year's award goes to the volleyball team, with a team GPA of 3.36.

Big C Most Improved Team Award
This award goes to the team that has made the greatest improvement in the last year relative to its historical grade-point average. The 2010-11 recipient is women's golf.

Pac-10 Medal
The Pac-10 Medal is awarded annually at each member institution to that university's outstanding senior male and female student-athletes. The determination is based on the exhibition of the greatest combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership. U.S. Olympic gold medalist and NCAA champion Nathan Adrian (men's swimming) and All-American setter Carli Lloyd (volleyball) are this year's recipients.

Adrian, the 2011 Pac-10 Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's swimming and the 2011 CSCAA Swimmer of the Championships, had several accolades during this year's NCAA meet, winning two individual and three relay national crowns to lead Cal to the team title. He posted an American-record time of 18.66 to win the 50-yard freestyle and won his third straight NCAA title in the 100 free with a time of 41.10. Adrian also anchored all three of Cal's winning relays at the NCAAs, as the Bears repeated as the 200-medley relay champs with a time of 1:23.12, repeated as the 400 medley relay champs with a time of 3:02.28 and set a school record of 2:47.39 with their repeat title in the 400-free relay.

Lloyd led the Cal volleyball team to its first Pac-10 crown, a No. 2 final ranking and its best finish in school history as the 2010 NCAA runner-up. She was honored with her third AVCA All-America selection and was named the AVCA National Player of the Year. Lloyd was a finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award and completed her career at Cal as the second all-time leader for career assists (5,697) and added over 1,000 digs. She also etched her name in the Bear record books in fifth place for career blocks (398) and hitting percentage (.277).

Neufeld Scholar-Athlete Awards
The Neufeld Scholar-Athlete Awards are given to the graduating male and female student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade point averages. The award was established by Cal Hall of Famer William Neufeld Sr. in honor and memory of his son, William Jr., who ran track at Cal before his untimely death in a boating accident. The 2011 men's winners are Nathan Adrian (men's swimming) and David Seawright (football), who tied for the top men's GPA. The women's winner is senior Allison Greggor (track and field).

Greggor competes in the 3000, 5000 and 10000 meters, as well as cross country, and set the school's indoor record in the 3000 and 50000 meters during her career. She is the women's team captain and will graduate with a double degree in psychology and Spanish with a 3.79 GPA.

A place kicker on the Cal football team, Seawright will be graduating this spring with a degree in media studies. Putting his degree to work, he has interned at ABC News, written for the Daily California campus newspaper and blogged for CalBears.com.

Having already won the Pac-10 Medal as the top male athlete of the school, Adrian has also earned the highest cumulative GPA of all male student-athletes on campus in his major of public health. Both Adrian and Seawright boast 3.75 GPAs.

Pac-10 Post-Graduate Scholarships
Created to honor outstanding scholar-athletes intending to pursue graduate studies and awarded by each Pac-10 institution, they include a $3,000 stipend for graduate work. This year's recipients are Brian Dudley (men's water polo), Megan Psyllos (field hockey), Bozhidar Katsarov (men's tennis) and Allison Stokke (women's track & field).

Dudley is graduating with a degree in business administration this spring. A four-time All American and all-academic honoree, he led the Bears to two national championships during his career. Dudley, who hopes to use his Pac-10 Post-Graduate Scholarship to earn an MBA, has already secured a job at an investment banking firm in San Francisco. He will also continue to prepare for the 2012 Olympics, possibly representing his native country of South Africa in water polo.

Psyllos will be graduating this spring with a degree in media studies. She has served on Bear SAAC while excelling in the classroom and on the field. The senior has been honored as a member of the coaches association's national academic squad, while also being named to the NorPac all-conference and All-West region teams. Currently a communications intern with the San Francisco Giants, Psyllos plans to attend a graduate program in the field of TV, film or broadcasting.

Katsarov is graduating this spring with a degree in business administration. He won a Pac-10 tournament flight his freshman year and is on pace to win over 100 matches in his tenure as a Cal tennis player, a feat only five players in school history have accomplished. Katsarov is a past recipient of individual and team Golden Bear Awards and a four-time Pac-10 All Academic winner. He intends to pursue an MBA with this scholarship.

Stokke will graduate this spring with a degree in sociology. Another member of Bear SAAC, Stokke is a four-year letter-winning pole vaulter who garnered indoor All America first-team status and set the school indoor record in the women's pole vault (13-11.75) this season. She will pursue a master's degree in the Cultural Studies of Sport in Education program at Cal.

Oscar Geballe Postgraduate Scholarships
This award, now in its 30th year, was created through the generosity of Dr. Theodore Geballe to honor his father, Oscar Geballe. This award recognizes Oscar Geballe's devotion to Cal and his strong belief in the value of combining scholarship and intercollegiate athletic competition. Since 1981, the Geballe award has helped more than 65 Golden Bears continue their education at the postgraduate level with a $5,000 stipend going to each winner. The 2011 recipients are Alison Greggor (track & field) and former Bears Eric Dunipace (men's swimming) and Julianne Wu (lacrosse).

Greggor, adding to her Neufeld Scholar-Athlete Award, will be graduating with degrees in Spanish and psychology; her true interest lies in the latter. She is in the midst of finishing her honors thesis on the function of culture in whales and dolphins, in addition to conducting multiple research projects on campus, including spotted hyenas, zebra finches and local hermit crabs. Upon graduation, she will take a year off in order to pursue continued field work in animal behavior, with dolphins in Hawaii. She will begin a PhD program in Experimental Psychology and Animal Behavior in the fall of 2012.

Dunipace graduated in the spring of 2008 with honors in molecular and cell biology. With a perfect upper-division GPA of 4.0, he was selected for the Outstanding Immunologist Award upon graduation, given to the top graduating senior in the immunology division of the molecular and cell biology major. A four-time first-team Pac-10 All Academic selection, Dunipace qualified for the 2008 Olympic Trials in the 50-meter freestyle. Identifying two possible career paths that would allow him to combine his love of science and desire to make a difference in the lives of others, Dunipace is still deciding whether to pursue an MD and focus on working in third-world countries on issues such as HIV transmission and the vaccination of children or a master's in public health, focusing on health education in Third-World countries.

Wu, a former member of the women's lacrosse team, graduated with honors in psychology in the spring of 2004. She led the Bears to four winning seasons and guided the team to a top 20 ranking, while earning awards that included Mountain Pacific Lacrosse League All Star and first-team U.S. Lacrosse All-Academic. A current MBA candidate at the Haas School of Business, Wu will complete business school in the spring of 2012. Prior to pursuing her MBA, she created ecoVC, an organization that merges environmental stewardship with economic opportunity. After completing her MBA, Wu will continue to build ecoVC, enabling thousands of companies globally to engage with a web platform designed to streamline the sustainability process and raise awareness about corporate sustainability for hundreds of thousands of employees.

Jake Gimbel Prize and Anna Espenschade Award
The Jake Gimbel Prize and Anna Espenschade Award were established in the 1930s and 1987, respectively, to recognize a graduating male and female student-athlete for successful integration of academic and athletic pursuits. The winners of these awards exemplify the true "Golden Bear" spirit. For 2011, the recipients, respectively, are football's Mike Mohamed and women's swimming's Amanda Sims.

Mohamed combines a powerful work ethic on the gridiron and in the classroom while also making time to help others. He is a three-time Pac-10 All-Academic recipient and this year was a finalist for the Campbell Trophy, which goes to the top football scholar athlete in the nation. He led the Pac-10 in tackles in 2009 and was a key part of the team's success for the past several years as a linebacker. Mohamed graduated from the Haas Business School in the fall and intends to earn an MBA when he finishes his playing career. Last week, he was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the NFL.

As women's swimming head coach Teri McKeever wrote, "As a captain for the 2010-11 team, coupled with her individual title in the 100 butterfly and 400-medley relay title, Amanda was the backbone of our 2011 NCAA national championship." Sims is a 10-time All American. She won an individual NCAA title in the 100 fly in 2009 and then repeated this national title this year. She will graduate this spring with a degree in history and a 3.4 GPA. While her research interests are focused on pre-World War I Europe, Sims' story is also one of history repeating itself - her father, Paul, swam at Cal from 1977-81 and won NCAA team championships in 1979 and 1980.

Joseph McDonnell Kavanagh Award
This award, in its fifth year, recognizes the student-athlete who has made exceptional improvement in their academic and intellectual pursuits at Cal. This year's most academically inspirational athlete is Kelsey Hoff of women's swimming.

Hoff grew up in Sacramento and was home schooled by her parents from the first grade until college. Her transition into Cal was not easy, as she had to get used to large lectures and a very different set of expectations. Hoff wrote, "I came into school with the idea that just getting a degree would be good enough and grades were not that important." But she said she began to enjoy school when she took an introduction to social and cultural anthropology in the fall of 2008. She has since declared anthropology as her major and has earned 3.4., 3.5 and 3.6 term GPAs her last three semesters. She compiled the highest GPA of any Cal women's swimmer in the 2010 calendar year.

Walter A. Haas Jr. Community Service Award
The Walter A. Haas Jr. Community Service Award was created to honor Walter A. Haas Jr. for his commitment and service to the University and larger community. This award is given annually to a student-athlete for his or her outstanding contribution to community service. This year's recipient of the Walter A. Haas Jr. Community Service Award is Andrea Waters of women's golf.

Waters is a leader on the golf links, in the classroom and in the community. She has served as the president of Bear SAAC, has represented Cal at a number of Pac-10 and NCAA conferences and is involved in Athletes in Action. In addition she has participated in the Big Drive for the Alameda County Food Bank, the literacy program Read Across America, Bear Foot for Bare Feet and College Sports Day. As head golf head coach Nancy McDaniel wrote, "Andrea Waters has modeled the way to get student athletes involved in the community to help those less fortunate."

Golden Bear Achievement Awards
The Golden Bear Achievement Awards are presented to the student athlete on each team with the highest GPA on their respective team. The list of male Golden Bear Award recipients included Dixon Anderson (Baseball, Society and Environment major), Harper Kamp (Men's Basketball, American Studies), Scott Goddard (Men's Crew, Cell & Developmental Biology), Matthew Miller (Men's Cross Country, Political Economy of Industrial Societies), David Seawright (Football, Media Studies), Brandon Hagy (Men's Golf, Business Administration), Donothan Bailey (Men's Gymnastics, Intended Integrative Biology Major), Eric Haeussler (Men's Gymnastics, Business Administration), Mark Richter (Rugby, Business Administration), Riley Kovatch (Men's Soccer, Business Administration), Mark Prior (Men's Swimming & Diving, Political Science), Bozhidar Katsarov (Men's Tennis, Business Administration), Ethan Mark (Men's Track & Field, Mathematics) and Marker Anderson (Men's Water Polo, Business Administration).

The female athletes awarded the Golden Bear Award were Layshia Clarendon (Women's Basketball, American Studies major), Alyssa Machida (Women's Crew, History of Art), Laurynne Chetelat (Women's Cross Country, Integrative Biology), Jessica Kreck (Field Hockey, Art Practice), Pia Halbig (Women's Golf, Media Studies), Avery Gee (Women's Gymnastics, Cognitive Science), Chapin Jackson (Lacrosse, History of Art), Lauren Hein (Women's Soccer, Integrative Biology), Lindsey Ziegenhirt (Softball, Psychology), Shelley Harper (Women's Swimming & Diving, Integrative Biology), Sara Isakovic (Women's Swimming & Diving, Intended Psychology Major), Jana Juricova (Women's Tennis, Political Economy of Industrial Societies), Kristen Meister (Women's Track & Field, History), Robin Rostratter (Volleyball, Intended Media Studies Major) and Kristen Mase (Women's Water Polo, Anthropology).