For all the Pac-12 and NCAA championships Teri McKeever has seen her teams win over her 25 years as head women's swimming & diving coach at Cal, a new honor announced at an athletic department staff meeting last week seemed to bring her a similar level of excitement and pride.
 
Specifically, the Golden Bears received the Newmark Award for having the highest cumulative GPA among all 30 of Cal's intercollegiate athletic teams for the 2015-16 academic year. When combined for the 24 women on the squad, the figure came to a very impressive 3.376.
 
"It's something we talk a lot about on a daily basis – the ability to get a world-class education and a world-class swimming experience," said McKeever, who has guided the Bears to four NCAA and four Pac-12 titles. "I've always wanted to sit in on one of those meetings and have them say women's swimming & diving."
 
Cal finished third at the NCAA meet this past March, marking the eighth consecutive year the Bears have placed among the top three nationally – the longest current streak in the country. Then over the summer, 10 of McKeever's swimmers – future, current and past – competed at the Olympics in Rio, where they brought home an impressive eight medals.
 
In the classroom, Rachael Acker was named the 2016 Pac-12 Woman of the Year, the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women's swimming & diving and a finalist for the University Medal given to the top graduate at Cal. She was also voted an Academic All-American, and was joined on the squad by fellow senior Rachel Bootsma.
 
Overall, 14 Bears earned a spot on the 2016 CSCAA Scholar All-America team with 12 chosen Pac-12 All-Academic.
 
"That's all them. That's all on the student-athletes," McKeever said. "The coaching staff can talk about it, but the student-athletes are the ones putting in the work and long hours. It also speaks to finding your passion while you're here. Most of them, obviously, have a level of passion for their athletics. I think we've been fortunate that we've had women, even if they didn't know what they wanted academically at first, who have been able to come in and find something that inspires them to put in the effort."