Cal Honors Its 2009-10 Golden Student-Athletes

via grfx.cstv.com

At the Academic Honors Luncheon yesterday, the most accomplished student athletes were honored for their academic and community achivements outside the playing field. People forget that these athletes also have to hit the books just as hard as we do, and it's worth recognizing their accomplishments as students just as much as their athletes. Here are the awards.

Golden Bear Team Award (Highest GPA) & Big C Most Improved Team Award (Most improved GPA): Cal men's golf team

Pac-10 Postgraduate Scholars (scholar athletes planning to do graduate work): Sophia Hocini (women's gymnastics, planning for cancer biology or physical therapy), Kellan Patterson (men's track & field, planning for law school) and Shay Seager (women's crew, med school at Rutgers).

Oscar Geballe Postgraduate Scholarships: Anthony Ervin (men's swimming, planning to attend Cal Graduate School of Education) and Laurel Kuhn (women's crew, planning to attend the Teacher Education Program at UCLA).

Neufeld Scholar-Athlete Awards (awarded to highest GPAs for male & female): Mark Boskovich (3.75 GPA in Poly Sci, plans to attend law school) &  Theresa Raub (pole vaulter, degree in Geography, plans to attend Cal for an MA in the Graduate School of Education).

Pac-10 Medal (most outstanding Cal student athletes): Jerome Randle (Pac-10 basketball player of the year, graduates with a degree in Social Welfare) & Hana Cutura (Pac-10 women's volleyball player of the year, graduates with a degree in Film Studies).

Jake Gimbel and Anna Espenschade Awards (best integration of academics and athletics): Theo Robertson (4.0 GPA his final three semesters, most efficient three point shooter in Cal history), Lauren Greif (women's hoops, 3.6 GPA in Psychology, first-team All Pac-10 Academic Honors).

Joseph McDonnell Kavanagh Award (most inspirational athlete): Jill Costello (women's crew, has battled lung cancer all year).

Walter A. Haas Jr. Community Service Award (athlete with most outstanding community service): Sophia Hocini (women's gymnastics, activities ranging form canned food drives, John Muir Elementary Reading Nights to Race for the Cure and Relay for Life in honor of her father)

Golden Bear Achievement Awards (best GPA on the team): Dixon Anderson (Baseball, Environmental Sciences), Jorge Gutierrez (Basketball, Art Practice), Scott Goddard (Crew, Micro-Biology), Matt Miller (Cross Country, Political Economy), Mark Boskovich (Political Science), Evan Derian (Golf, Interdisciplinary Studies), Daniel Culpepper (Gymnastics, Molecular Biology), Nathaniel Floyd (Rugby, Business Administration), Ted Jones (Soccer, Media Studies), Mark Prior (Swimming, Political Science), Bozhidar Katsarov (Tennis, Business Administration), Cameron Kroll (Track and Field, Integrated Biology), and Marker Anderson (Water Polo, Business Administration). Women--Lauren Greif (Basketball, Psychology), Taylor Christensen (Crew, Molecular Toxicology), Deborah Maier (Cross Country, Political Science), Jessica Kreck (Field Hockey, Art), Pia Halbig (Golf, Media Studies), Stefanie Cheng (Gymnastics, Political Science), Tara Arolla (Lacrosse, American Studies), Lisa Kevorkian (Soccer, Media Studies), Sati Houston (Softball, Industrial Engineering), Shelley Harper (Swimming, Integrative Biology), Jana Juricova (Tennis, Political Economy), Kendall Morris (Track and Field, Integrative Biology), Carli Lloyd (Volleyball, Social Welfare), and Laura Wood (Water Polo, Interdisciplinary Studies).