Cal honored the academic achievements of its student athletes during Monday's Academic Honors Luncheon. Teams and individuals earned awards for outstanding feats in the classroom. Once again, women's golf reigns supreme:
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, for the second consecutive year, goes to the women's golf team with a team GPA of 3.54.Big C Most Improved Team Award
This award, which goes to the team that has made the greatest improvement in the last year relative to its historical grade-point average, also goes to women's golf.
Scott Farley and Nicole Larson had the highest GPAs.
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.Male - Scott Farley (men's swimming) Female - Nicole Larson (women's track & field)
And several athletes received scholarships to continue their education beyond the undergraduate level.
Pac-12 Postgraduate Scholarships
Created to honor outstanding scholar-athletes intending to pursue graduate studies and awarded by each Pac-12 institution, they include a $3,000 stipend for graduate work.Emi Lawson - women's soccer
Ben Hinshaw - men's swimming
Allison Swartz - field hockey
Mark Brazinski - footballOscar Geballe Postgraduate Scholarships
This award was created through the generosity of Dr. Theodore Geballe to honor his father, Oscar Geballe. It 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 75 Golden Bears continue their education at the postgraduate level with a $5,000 stipend going to each winner.Mitchel Bartolo - football
Kathleen Messinger - women's soccer
Maggie Simpson - women's track & field
How did I not know there was a Maggie Simpson in the Cal Athletics world? No matter, it's great to see so many athletes excelling academically. Go Bears!
Water Polo
Golf
- Brandon Hagy became the first Bear to win the Byron Nelson Award.
- The men's team earned the top seed in the NCAA Sugar Grove Regional.
Track and Field
Baseball
Basketball
- Georgetown guard and San Francisco native Stephen Domingo will transfer to Cal. The former four-star prospect will sit out this season per the usual transfer rules.
- Vandy assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Yanni Hufnagel is joining the Bears.
- Alexis Gray-Lawson, Layshia Clarendon, and Gennifer Brandon are at work as WNBA training camps begin this week.
Football
- Uncle Ted looks for a reason for each Pac-12 North team to have optimism after spring ball. What's Cal's silver lining? Andy Buh is gone and we didn't sustain too many additional injuries. That's a low bar.
- The 2012-13 APR jumped to 969, up from 923 in 2011-12. Despite the improvement, this will (predictably) have a minimal impact on the four-year rolling average.