Two University of South Carolina players have made USA Rugby’s Academic All American team.

Those two players were not named in the original list, but qualified and have been recognized by USA Rugby.

Matthew Augustine and David Mysona made the list by demonstrating both academic and athletic excellence during the 2013- 2014 season.

Augustine and Mysona both exceed the program criteria, which includes being a consistent starter on the South Carolina rugby team and posting a cumulative grade point average of 3.7 (on scale of 4.0) or higher, with cumulative G.P.A.’s of 3.90 or higher, representing the highest bracket of the awards list.

Matthew Augustine

Exercise Science is a mixture of exercise physiology and public health related topics at USC, which prides itself with one of the top programs in the country. Augustine spent a year and a half working in the Integrative Muscle Biology Laboratory as an undergraduate researcher for Dr. James Carson studying cancer cachexia and related topics to disease and skeletal muscle. Augustine received second place in his category for his poster presentation "Unloading and Irradiation on Skeletal Muscle Protein Turnover" at USC Discovery Day 2014 this past May. Augustine graduated Suma Cum Laude from both USC and the South Carolina Honors College, the top public honors college in the country. He was awarded two undergraduate research grants while at USC, the Magellan Scholars Grant and the Scientific Undergraduate Research Fund. Looking ahead, Augustine is scheduled to begin medical school at the USC School of Medicine-Columbia this month and looks to continue researching his interests in oncology, neurology, and emergency medicine. One point of achievement for Augustine, aside from one B+ his first semester freshmen year, he received straight A's all four years at South Carolina.

David Mysona

Biomedical engineers strive to increase both our knowledge of medicine as well as the quality of healthcare across the planet through innovative design of surgical techniques, medical devices, and methods of drug delivery. As a future physician and biomedical engineer, Mysona believes it his responsibility to provide new innovative methods to advance the quality of care of all human beings by applying what he learned as an engineer and what he will soon learn as a doctor of medicine. Graduating Summa Cum Laude, Mysona served as president of his residence hall during 2012 and was a two time SCRC All-Conference rugby player. As a Tau Beta Pi scholar, Mysona was also awarded an undergraduate research grant while at USC, the Magellan Scholars Grant, for his project: Determining the role of the Sag G protein in necrotizing fasciitis. Looking ahead, Mysona is scheduled to begin medical school at the Medical College of Georgia this month and looks to continue his research and devoting his life to his patients.

“On behalf of our USA Rugby collegiate programs of more than 900 teams, Tam Breckenridge, associate director of College Rugby, and I congratulate these scholar-athletes on their accomplishments on the field and in the classroom,” USA Rugby Director of College Rugby Rich Cortez said. “The criteria for this award require commitment and determination in both arenas. We wish the honorees continued success in their chosen fields.”