BERKELEY- Fresh off its national championship performance this past weekend, the California rugby team returned to Berkeley to collect a wealth of academic honors at the annual Cal Academic Honors Luncheon on Monday afternoon. The event was hosted by the Athletic Study Center at the Field Club at California Memorial Stadium to celebrate the top academic performers from across all Intercollegiate Athletic teams.
 
"We are very proud of these academic scholars," head coach Jack Clark said. "They are young men who chase excellence in everything they do. When our campus speaks about comprehensive excellence, these student-athletes are the proof point."
 
Recognition is reserved for sophomores through seniors and bestows scholar-athlete status to the finest of Cal's student-athletes during the 2025-26 school year. Nineteen rugby players achieved this status and invitations to the event. Those players were: Alex Vieira, Cade Crist,
Elias Smith, Emmett Cook, Filip Edstrom, Jack Byszio, Jack Openshaw, Luke Leddy, Max Threlkeld, Michál de Beer, Miles Malone, Noa Grasse, Oliver Kirk, Oliver Newall, Oliver Teague, Rand Santos, Seamus Deely, Tom Archer, and Bryan Bogne.
 
Oliver Kirk was recognized with the Golden Bear Achievement Award, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest grade-point average on his or her respective team. Kirk is a sophomore majoring in computer science, who finished with a 4.0 GPA last term.
 
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