Stars Shine At UC Irvine's Salute To Scholar-Athletes
IRVINE, Calif. -- UC Irvine Athletics honored
113 student-athletes at the annual Salute To Scholar-Athletes
banquet Wednesday night at the Bren Events Center.
This year's list of Scholar-Athletes brings UCI's total to 3,616
since 1983.
Requirements for this award include maintaining a 3.0 grade-point
average (GPA) over the previous three quarters or a 3.2 GPA over
two quarters for freshmen and transfer students.
Student-athletes must also earn letters in their sports.
The Scholar-Athlete award was implemented by the Big West
Conference to honor those student-athletes that have maintained a
high level of scholastic excellence while participating in
intercollegiate athletics. UCI expanded the award to include
teams that do not participate in Big West-sponsored sports.
In addition to the 113 scholar-athletes, UCI also honored several
individuals. Charles Jock was recognized as the Lauds
& Laurels Outstanding Student-Athlete, the most
prestigious award given by the UCI Alumni Association. Jock
was recently named Big West Track Athlete of the Year for the third
consecutive year and is a two-time All-American. He currently
holds the fastest 800 meter time (1:44:75) in the United States and
will compete in the NCAA Championships beginning Wednesday (June 6)
in Des Moines, Iowa.
Senior track athlete Amber Middleton garnered UCI Female
Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. Middleton, who
was the Big West runner-up in both the 100 and 400 hurdle events,
advanced to the NCAA West Preliminary Round. The sociology
major was a member of UCI’s school-record 4x400 relay team
(3:42.25) and ranks second in UCI history in the 100 hurdles
(13.71) and is third all-time (58.96).
Baseball player Crosby Slaught was honored as the UCI Male
Scholar Athlete of the Year. Slaught, a social sciences
major, finished his career on the mound with a 23-10 record, good
for sixth in the Anteater record book. The pitcher had 49 career
starts, which ties him for fifth at UCI, and his 23 wins are tied
for eighth all-time.
Baseball player D.J. Crumlich was recognized at the banquet after
being honored in March as UCI’s Big West Male Scholar
Athlete of the Year. The senior shortstop was tabbed
Big West Defensive Player of the Year along with being named to the
All- Big West Second Team. He led the team with a .324
batting average and paced the Anteaters with 39 runs scored.
The business economics major has also been named to the Big West
Academic all-Conference team.
Soccer player Lexi Kopf was named UCI’s Big West
Female Scholar Athlete of the Year in March. The
senior ended her career at UCI ninth all-time in goals, (20) and
11th in points (44). Kopf, who was a member of the
UCI teams that made NCAA appearances the last two years, was named
to the 2011 All-Big West First Team and the Big West All-Academic
Team. She will graduate with degrees in biology and
psychology and social behavior.
Track hurdler Jacob Yowell and women’s water polo player
Katie Croghan were awarded the UCI Academic Achievement
Award by the UCI Admissions Office, and women’s
tennis player Stephanie Hammel received the Athletics
Leadership Award. The women’s golf team earned
the Faculty Athletic Representative Award for
highest team GPA.
UCI also honored student-athletes with Class Performance
Awards:
UCI Outstanding Freshman Performance
Cami Privett, Women’s Soccer (Big West Freshman of
the Year)
Jillian Yocum, Women’s Water Polo (Second in NCAA Tournament
saves)
Will Davis, Men’s Basketball (Set single-game and
single-season blocked shots records)
UCI Outstanding Sophomore Performance
Natalia Ledezma, Women’s Soccer (All-Big West first team)
Andrew Thurman, Baseball (All-Big West first team)
Mitch Wise, Men’s Water Polo (Third team All-American)
UCI Outstanding Junior Performance
Jessy Cardey, Women’s Water Polo (Big West Player of the
Year)
Ericka Nowell, Women’s Track and Field (Big West Champion in
400-meter hurdles)
Kevin Tillie, Men’s Volleyball (First team All-American)
UCI Outstanding Senior Performance
CoCo Goodson, Women’s Soccer (Second team All-American)
Carson Clark, Men’s Volleyball (First team All-American)
Miguel Ibarra, Men’s Soccer (First team All-American)
Charles Jock, Men’s Track and Field (Big West Track Athlete
of the Year)
2011-12 SCHOLAR-ATHLETES
Baseball: Ryan Cooper, D.J. Crumlich, Jordan
Fox, Andy Lines, Jimmy Litchfield, Dillon Moyer, Jonathan Munoz,
Ronnie Shaeffer, Crosby Slaught, Taylor Sparks, Connor Spencer,
Mark Trentacosta, Matt Whitehouse
Men’s Basketball: Adam Folker
Men’s Cross Country: Brennen Halliday,
Ryan McMonigle, Trevor Smith.
Men’s Golf: Mickey Chan, Pete
Fernandez
Men’s Soccer: Bryan Breslin, Victor
Calderon, Jake Marcon, Dennis Martinez, Norby Rodriguez
Men’s Tennis: Mika DeCoster, Eric
Gast
Men’s Track and Field: Stephen Brown,
Alvin Cheng, Tommy Hamm, Mike Kennedy, Riley Martin, Trevor
Wightman
Men’s Volleyball: Ian Castellana,
Jeremy Dejno, Connor Hughes, Dan McDonnell, Will Montgomery
Men’s Water Polo: Bo de Lange, Sam
Figueroa, Jimmy Friedrich, Derrik Jarvis, Alex Kazmier, Kyle
Kittlitz, Winston Newland, Nick Pfeil, Brian Pickford, Alan
Robertson
Women’s Basketball: Cheyenne Cathey,
Lauren Spinazze
Women’s Cross Country: Emma Archuleta,
Shelley Foerster, Mary Follo, Kaycee Holcomb, Maggie McDuffee,
Nicole Mendoza, Chelsea Schneider, Gabbi White, Courtney Wilson
Women’s Golf: Sarah Baek, Michelle Park,
Lalita Patipaksiri, Michelle Yang, Taryn Yee
Women’s Soccer: Carly Crowder, Devon
Delarosa, Sarah Devine, Kala Gabler, Amanda Hardeman, Lexi Kopf,
Jordan Kopf, Alexis Rafael, Mar Rodriguez, Jackie Samis, Dana
Sanderlin, Mady Solow
Women’s Tennis: Courtney Byron, Franziska
Goettshing, Stephanie Hammel, Brooke Schweyer, Kristina Smith
Women’s Track and Field: Marie Brashears,
Itos Aikhionbare, Janessa Brown, Kelly Collins, Jamie Crow, Lauren
Freschauf, Kira Helmer, Christa Kondru, Martina Mickos, Amber
Middleton, Kelsi Sando, Jennica Smith, Corina Ubario, Alexandra
Webb, KayC Wharton
Women’s Volleyball: Pauline Acres, Marissa
Alvarez, Mary Carls, Shannon Fleming, Alexandra Hauser, Shaina
Olsen, Taylor Smith, Aly Squires, Sarah Wilder, Kristin Winkler
Women’s Water Polo: Kate Avetoom, Hannah
Croghan, Katie Croghan, Hilary Estrada, Layne Kipp, Mary Jane
O’Neill, Rebecca Voytilla, Danielle Warde
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