University of California Athletics

May 9, 2007

BERKELEY, CALIF. - Celebrating the academic, athletic and community service accomplishments of the Golden Bears, Intercollegiate Athletics honored its student-athletes at the annual Academic Honors Luncheon Wednesday in the Pauley Ballroom on campus.

The list of attendees included student-athletes who have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher, or have earned conference, regional or national academic honors, or have served the community as leaders or mentors.

John Mann was the Golden Bears' 2006-07 recipient of the Pac-10 Medal.

The event was co-sponsored by the Big C Society and the Athletic Study Center.

Dr. Tony Smith, a member of the Golden Bear football team from 1986-89, provided the keynote address. Superintendent of the Emery Unified School District in nearby Emeryville, Smith earned his Ph.D. from Cal in 2002, writing his dissertation on Changing the Field of Practice: A Reflexive Pedagogy for Student-Athletes.

Senior women's soccer goal keeper Anna Key delivered the address on behalf of Cal's student-athletes.

Pac-10 Postgraduate Scholarships Created to honor outstanding scholar-athletes intending to pursue graduate studies, each Pac-10 institution selects four exceptional graduating seniors who receive $3,000 for their graduate work.

Erin Reilly, Women's Swimming Captain of the women's swimming team, Reilly has been a member of three national championship relay teams. She has represented the United States at the World University Games, and will train for the Olympic Trials this coming year while preparing to attend law school in fall 2008. A mass communications major from Sacramento, she is a three-time Pac-10 All-Academic honoree.

Elyse Wong, Women's Gymnastics An Academic All-American for three of her four years at Cal, Wong will graduate this fall with a degree in civil engineering and a minor in Chinese studies. She is a member of Chi Epsilon, the national honor society for civil engineers, as well as the American Society of Civil Engineers. Wong will be studying abroad this summer in Taiwan to work on her Mandarin and then plans to pursue a master's degree in structural engineering.

Daniel Sebescen, Men's Tennis Sebescen has been a four-year member of the men's tennis team and has helped the squad to the NCAA Tournament each year. He will graduate with a degree in Political Economies of Industrial Societies. Speaker of four languages (English, German, Hungarian and Croatian), he interned last summer with the Bay Area World Trade Center as a strategic analyst and intends to pursue an MBA.

Alex Pribble, Men's Basketball A walk-on basketball player who earned a scholarship through hard work and perseverance, Pribble earned Pac-10 All-Academic honors three times. He will graduate with a degree in sociology this summer and will begin working on his master's degree in education at Cal next fall.

Oscar Geballe Postgraduate Scholarships This award, now in its 26th year, was created through the generosity of Dr. Theodore Geballe to honor his father, Oscar Geballe. This award 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 60 Golden Bears continue their education at the postgraduate level with a $5000 stipend going to each winner.

Andre Bastos, Men's Crew Bastos will graduate this spring in with his degree in cognitive science and plans to spend the next year conducting research at the Lynn Robertson Neuropsychology Lab on the Cal campus. In the fall of 2008, he intends to pursue his graduate degree in neuroscience. Ultimately, he aspires to become a professor and researcher, helping people with brain disorders like Parkinson 's disease, Alzheimer 's disease and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

Elizabeth Mayeda, Women's Cross Country Mayeda will graduate this spring as a double major in integrative biology and public health. In the fall, she will attend Columbia University where she will pursue a master's degree in epidemiology. Her ultimate goal is to conduct research on infectious diseases.

Jenny Wendell, Women's Soccer Wendell will graduate this spring in English with a 3.9 GPA. She studied abroad at Oxford last spring, where she fully engaged Shakespeare. This July, she will begin a job in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in New York and will enter law school in the fall of 2008.

Golden Bear Team Award The Golden Bear Team Award is given to the varsity team with the highest cumulative grade point average. The average GPA for Cal's 27 intercollegiate teams is 3.0. This year's award goes to women's soccer, with a team GPA of 3.356.

Golden Bear Achievement Awards The Golden Bear Achievement Awards recognize the student-athlete on each team with the high GPA.

Name                 Sport                       Major
Michael Capbarat     Baseball                    English
Nikola Knezevic      Men's Basketball            Mass Communications
Andre Bastos         Men's Crew                  Cognitive Science
Christopher Chavez   Men's Cross Country         Economics
Jordan Kay           Football                    American Studies
Freddy Wolfe         Men's Golf                  Interdisciplinary Studies
Zach Boone           Men's Gymnastics            Spanish
Jason Lee            Rugby                       Business Administration
Michael Nieraeth     Men's Soccer                Integrative Biology
Justin Pollard       Men's Swimming & Diving     Economics
Pierre Mouillon      Men's Tennis                PEIS
Alex Beitashour      Men's Track & Field         Business Administration
Andrew Nesbit        Men's Water Polo            Business Administration
Julia Numair         Women's Basketball          Business Administration
Tricia Davitt        Women's Crew                Mass Communications
Rebecca Yau          Women's Cross Country       Public Health
Anja Kuhk            Field Hockey                Mass Communications
Shannon Yocum        Women's Golf                Economics
ElyseWong            Women's Gymnastics          Civil Engineering
Liz Reifsnyder       Lacrosse                    American Studies
Nkechi Kanu          Women's Soccer              Business Administration
Carly Winger         Softball                    Business Administration
Kelly Stravers       Women's Swimming & Diving   Political Science
Claire Ilcinkas      Women's Tennis              Economics
Francesca Weems      Women's Track & Field       Mass Communications
Angie Pressey        Women's Volleyball          History
Erika Hanson         Women's Water Polo          Political Science

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.

Jennifer Wendell, Women's Soccer Wendell has a 3.868 GPA as an English major. See above for more information on her.

Andre Bastos, Men's Crew Bastos has a 3.614 GPA in cognitive science. See above for more information on him.

Pac-10 Medal The Pac-10 Medal is awarded annually at each member institution to that university's outstanding senior male and female student-athletes. The determination is based on the exhibition of the greatest combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership.

Jillian Davis, Volleyball Davis, a libero who is Cal's all-time leader with 1,810 digs, will graduate this spring with a degree in interdisciplinary studies. She set a school record with 548 digs this past fall and established a Cal match record with 33 digs against Stanford in 2004. She served a president of Cal's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for three years and recently was the student-athlete representative on Cal's NCAA Certification Committee. She has also trained with the U.S. National team in Colorado Springs.

John Mann, Men's Water Polo One of the top players in school history, Mann led the Golden Bears to both the NCAA and MPSF titles this past fall. He was named first-team All-America for the third year in a row, first-team NCAA All-Tournament, MPSF Tournament MVP and All-MPSF first team. Mann, who led Cal with 80 goals in 33 matches as a senior, is a finalist for the Peter J. Cutino Award as the nation's top male collegiate water polo player.

Jake Gimbel and Anna Espenschade Awards The Jake Gimbel and Anna Espenschade Awards were established in the 1930s and 1987, respectively, to recognize a graduating male and female student-athlete for successful integration of academic and athletic pursuits. The winners of these awards exemplify the true "Golden Bear" spirit.

Andrija Vasiljevic, Men's Water Polo Vasiljevic, who is the recipient of the Jake Gimbel Award, finished his final season with the men's water polo team by helping the Bears to the NCAA championship. After scoring 40 goals this past fall, he concluded his career with 144 goals and was tabbed as a third-team All-American, first-team All-NCAA Tournament and second-team All-MPSF. An interdisciplinary studies major with a focus on the European Union, he has a cumulative 3.5 GPA.

Jillian Davis, Volleyball Davis is the recipient of the Anna Espenschade Award. See above for more information on her.

Joseph McDonnell Kavanagh Award This new award, in its second year, honors a student-athlete who has made exceptional improvement in academic and intellectual pursuits at Cal, and seeks to recognize a student-athlete who has taken full advantage of the educational opportunity on campus. The University of California's endearing phrase, Fiat Lux, "Let there be light," is appropriate for this "Most Academically Inspirational Athlete" Award.

Nu'u Tafisi, Football Tafisi transferred to Cal from Mt. San Antonio College in the spring 2005. Initially, he struggled academically. But since his first term, he has raised his GPA a full percentage point, earning a 3.4 this past fall, and he will graduate from Cal this spring with a degree in social welfare. He also received the football team's Joe Roth Award for courage, attitude and sportsmanship after the 2006 season.

Walter A. Haas Jr. Community Service Award The Walter A. Haas Jr. Community Service Award was created to honor Walter A. Haas Jr. for his commitment and service to the University and larger community. This award is given annually to a student-athlete for outstanding contribution to community service.

Anna Key, Women's Soccer Key will graduate this spring with her degree in peace and conflict studies, with an emphasis on human rights. In 2005, she created the Malawi Youth Project to make a difference among the women and youth of African nation. After taking Linguistics Professor Sam McChombo's Swahili course, she was inspired to visit Malawi and help the women and children with whom she interacted, focusing on AIDS education. Since returning home, she has raised more than $20,000 towards the project. Key is also the recipient of the 2006 NCAA Division I Female Sportsmanship Award and the 2007 John Wooden Citizenship Cup.