Senior gymnast Mark Berlaga has been recognized as the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Division I Men’s At-Large Academic All-America Team Member of the Year for the second consecutive year. The announcement was made by CSC on Wednesday morning. Berlaga is accompanied by Ian Lasic-Ellis, Riley Pittman, and Jackson Painter, who also received At-Large selections.
Berlaga becomes only the seventh student-athlete to win this award multiple times since it began in 1988. He joins former Stanford wrestler Nick Amuchastegui as the second Cardinal athlete to achieve this honor.
In addition to being named Team Member of the Year, Berlaga was selected as a CSC First Team Academic All-American. His teammate Ian Lasic-Ellis earned second team All-America honors.
Berlaga recently completed his Biology degree with a 4.059 GPA and ended 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 awarded an NCAA postgraduate scholarship and has two Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll selections along with three MPSF All-Academic Team honors.
Lasic-Ellis holds a 3.744 GPA in Symbolic Systems and earned his first-career All-America honors at the NCAA Championships in April, finishing fifth on high bar with a season-best 13.700 routine.
Lasic-Ellis is also 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 while completing his Computer Science degree with a 3.72 GPA. In 2024, he was named an ACWPC All-America First Team selection after earning second team honors in 2023.
Hailing from Irvine, Calif., Pittman is a three-time All-MPSF selection and four-time MPSF All-Academic honoree. Last season, he recorded 97 points with 44 assists and scored 53 goals.
Painter completes the group with Third Team recognition after finishing his Mechanical Engineering degree with a 3.85 GPA. Painter’s career includes entering Stanford’s record books in 2024; his 187 career goals rank him tenth in program history.
Painter ends his career as a two-time ACWPC All-American and three-time All-MPSF selection. Originally from Orinda, Calif., he is also noted for being selected four times for MPSF All-Academic honors.
