Berkeley High Grad Eli Kane Drowns In River Near Yosemite

STANISLAUS COUNTY, CA —A Berkeley High School graduate drowned last week in a river near Yosemite National Park.

Eli Kane was a staff member at a Stanislaus County Jewish camp, where he was working as a counselor.

Kane drowned Thursday in a river off the camp’s grounds, Camp Tawonga announced Friday on its Facebook page.

Kane was 20 according to published reports.

Kane attended University of Michigan after graduating from Berkeley High in 2019.

Kane played on Berkeley High’s 2019 North Coast Section Division I championship team and was a teammate of 20-year-old Ross Schultz, who along with 19-year-old Dixie Lewis were killed earlier this year in a head-on collision near Truckee.

Lewis, also a recent Berkeley High grad, is the daughter of author Michael Lewis.

Kane was a longtime camper at Tawonga who was working at the 95-year-old camp as a counselor this summer.

The camp planned to honor Kane at its Torah services on Saturday.

“We are deeply saddened by this tragedy. Eli was a bright light, beautiful spirit and an adored Tawongan,” the camp wrote on its Facebook page.

“Our deepest sympathies and thoughts are with Eli’s family, and we are grieving with them.”

This story was first reported by Berkeleyside.