BERKELEY – Nine California rugby student-athletes have received All-America honors for 2015-16, USA Rugby announced on Tuesday. Four new Golden Bears received full All-America honors for the first time in their collegiate careers, bringing the number of all-time Cal All-Americans to 135.
 
The 2015-16 group of Cal All-Americans is headlined by two-team full All-America selection Russell Webb, tabbed for both 7s and 15s to become the second Cal player to receive twin honors in the same season, joining teammate Anthony Salaber, who earned equivalent accolades last summer. Webb, who was previously a 2014-15 honorable mention for 15s, had a superlative 2015-16 campaign that included being named Man of the Match at the 2016 Penn Mutual Varsity Cup national collegiate championship final. Salaber, who achieved the same honors as Webb last year, is once again a full All-American in 15s and has also been named a second-team 7s All-American.
 
Three other Bears received first-team All-America accolades for 15s: Nicklas Boyer and Scott Walsh, both of whom received their first full AA selections following second-team honors in 2014-15; and James Kondrat, who ends his collegiate career with a second straight full All-America recognition.
 
Joining the group of first-team selections as a full 7s All-American is Jesse Milne, who capped his double-degree, dual-championship senior year with Most Valuable Player honors at the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship.
 
Rounding out the 2015-16 selections is George Vrame, who was awarded his second AA recognition as a second-team selection following full All-America honors in 2014-15; and two other Bears, Michael Bush and Thomas Robles, were named 15s All-America honorable mentions. The recognition for Robles is his first, while Bush was also named a 15s second-team All-American in 2014-15.
 
"Because these boys are so team orientated, I know they would all say the team's accomplishments are more important than individual honors," said head coach Jack Clark. "To a person, they are modest, selfless young men. However, we need to take a moment and make clear how very proud we are of their individual recognition. In particular the leadership demonstrated by these honorees was outstanding. We couldn't be prouder of them."

Everyone associated with Cal rugby shares in the pride of these student-athletes' achievements as the program prepares to celebrate the return of Rugby 7s as a medal sport at the Summer Olympics in Rio. The Olympic tournament August 9-11 comes on the heels of an unforgettable 2015-16 in which the Bears won national collegiate championships in both the 15s and 7s postseasons for the first time in the program's 134-year history.