BERKELEY - Whether it was in the water or on the pitch, Cal student-athletes upheld a tradition of national championship excellence throughout the 2016-17 season. To celebrate those accomplishments, the Golden Bears are holding their annual National Championship Week Sept. 4-9, culminating with an introduction on the field during the Cal-Weber State football game.
 
Last year began and ended as an ode to the winning legacy cultivated years ago in some of Cal's most recognized programs. And even with an expectation of year-to-year championships, each title added its own sweetness to the heritage of athletic excellence.
 
Altogether, Golden Bears have made a home in the water with the bulk of last season's titles coming from Cal's renowned aquatics programs. In the pool, swimming & diving impressed from start to finish with student-athletes who were not only the best collegiately, but in the world, sporting the Blue and Gold.
 
On the men's side, three-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Murphy capped his undergraduate career with wins in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke at the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis. In his final trip to NCAAs, Murphy completed a career sweep of the backstroke events as the world's top backstroker became just the fourth men's swimmer in NCAA history to win both distances of one event in all four years of college.
 
After completing another historic season, Murphy earned his third Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year award and was also named Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's swimming. His efforts in Indianapolis brought to a close one of the most prolific careers, both in the pool and in the classroom, in Cal Athletics history.
 
On the women's side, Cal's national title count increased with four individual and two relay titles. Kathleen Baker won three events – the 100-yardbackstroke, the 200-yard backstroke and the 200-yard individual medley – setting a pair of school records – while senior Farida Osman captured the 100-yard butterfly in a lifetime-best performance. Baker was named the 2017 CSCAA National Swimmer of the Year, becoming the sixth Bear and fourth in the last six years to claim the honor.
 
As a team, the women also stroked their way into a pair of relay titles with NCAA and U.S. Open record-setting performances as Baker, Abbey Weitzeil, Noemie Thomas and Osman won the 200 medley relay. Amy Bilquist and Valerie Hull also helped propel the Bears to the top, combing their efforts with Weitzeil and Thomas during prelims.
 
Another Cal foursome – Weitzeil, Maddie Murphy, Bilquist and Osman – captured a third consecutive title for the Bears in the 200 free relay, with Valerie Hull and Kristen Vredeveld contributing in morning qualifying.
The Bears also concluded the first half of the year atop the podium as Cal men's water polo clinched the program's 14th national title. Among the team's notable performances that led to a 23-4 finish, incredible protection from goalkeeper Lazar Andric during the semifinal and final games earned him NCAA Tournament MVP.
 
The accolades didn't stop there. After teammates Johnny Hooper, Luca Cupido, Odysseas Masmanidis and Conor Neumann picked up all-tournament honors, the pentad along with senior Thomas Carroll were named to the All-America team. And for the second time in his career, head coach Kirk Everist was named national coach of the year.
 
On the rugby pitch, the Bears continued their unmatched standard of excellence with a pair of thrilling title wins. For the second consecutive year, Cal rugby brought home national titles in both 15s and 7s in the same year. The 2016 team was the first in the long and illustrious history of the program to do so.
 On May 5, Cal downed Arkansas State 43-13 to win the Penn Mutual Varsity Cup in 15s, and just a few weeks later Cal swept in 7s, beating Life University 19-0 to win the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship and bring the program its 33rd national championship. The 15s title for rugby was its 28th all-time and 24th for head coach Jack Clark, while its 7s title was its fifth straight and fifth overall.
 
Since its first national championship in 1920 (football team), Cal has had at least one national champion (either team, individual, crew, tennis doubles or relay) in 82 of 97 years. And, the Bears have had at least one national champion every year since the 1973-74 season (1973 men's water polo team), making it 44 straight years of national champions at Cal.