STANFORD, Calif. – Senior gymnast Mark Berlaga has been named the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Division I Men’s At-Large Academic All-America Team Member of the Year for the second consecutive season, as announced by CSC on Wednesday morning. Berlaga is joined by Ian Lasic-Ellis (men’s gymnastics), Riley Pittman (men’s water polo) and Jackson Painter (men’s water polo) who also earned At-Large selections.
Berlaga becomes just the seventh student-athlete to become a multiple-time recipient of the award since its inception in 1988, joining former Stanford wrestler Nick Amuchastegui (2011–12) as the second Cardinal student-athlete to achieve the honor.
In addition to being named Team Member of the Year, Berlaga was selected as a CSC First Team Academic All-American, while teammate Ian Lasic-Ellis earned second team All-America honors.
Recently completing his Biology degree with a 4.059 GPA, Berlaga capped his collegiate career as a three-time NCAA team champion and three-time All-American on still rings. In April, he finished as the national runner-up on still rings for the second time in his career with a season-best 14.200 routine.
Now a two-time CSC At-Large First Team Academic All-American, Berlaga was recently named the recipient of the NCAA postgraduate scholarship to go along with two Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll selections and three MPSF All-Academic Team honors.
Lasic-Ellis, who boasts a 3.744 GPA with a Symbolic Systems degree, earned his first-career All-America honors at the NCAA Championships this April, finishing fifth on the high bar with a season-best 13.700 routine.
Earning his first Academic All-America honor, Lasic-Ellis is a two-time MPSF All-Academic Team honoree, a Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll selection, and a CGA All-America Scholar-Athlete
Pittman earned Second Team distinction, finishing his time on The Farm with a Computer Science degree behind a 3.72 GPA. In 2024, Pittman was named an ACWPC All-America First Team selection, after earning second team honors in 2023.
The Irvine, Calif. product is a three-time All-MPSF selection, and a four-time MPSF All-Academic honoree. Last season, Pittman finished with 97 points on a team-leading 44 assists as well as 53 goals scored.
Painter rounds out the group with an appearance on the Third Team, finishing a degree in Mechanical Engineering with a 3.85 GPA. Painter entered the Cardinal record books in 2024, with his 187 career goals ranking 10th in program history.
Painter finishes his career as a two-time ACWPC All-American, and a three-time All-MPSF selection. The native of Orinda, Calif. is a four-time MPSF All-Academic selection as well.