2007-08 UC Irvine Intercollegiate Athletics Highlights The Anteaters received NCAA postseason points from baseball, men's and women's golf, and men's and women's swimming. Baseball advanced to NCAA postseason play for the third consecutive year. Coach Mike Gillespie's 'Eaters won the Lincoln (Neb.) Regional before losing in three games to LSU at the Baton Rouge Super Regional. Junior pitcher Scott Gorgen was named to numerous All-America teams as UCI finished 42-18 overall. The Anteaters have won 89 games over the past two seasons. The men's and women's golf teams each repeated as Big West Conference champions. Coach Paul Smolinski's men's squad finished third at the NCAA East Regional in Chattanooga, Tenn., and went on to finish 20th at the NCAA Championship in West Lafayette, Ind., for the program's best finish in Division I history. Sophomore John Chin was medalist at the Big West Championship and was named Big West Player of the Year. Coach Julie Brooks' women's team won its fourth consecutive Big West title as senior Kim Lorenzana was medalist in winning her first collegiate title. UCI finished 14th at the NCAA West Regional in Lincoln, Calif. The men's swimming team finished 34th at the NCAA Championship in Federal Way, Wash., as senior Eddie Erazo, the Big West Swimmer of the Year, became UCI's first All-American in men's swimming since 1990. Women's swimming placed 43rd at the NCAA Championship in Columbus, Ohio, as senior Chelsea Nagata competed at the national meet for the fourth straight year. Sophomore Lyndsay DePaul also competed at the NCAA meet and she finished seventh in the 200-meter butterfly at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials. Men's water polo finished the season with a final national ranking of third as senior Tim Hutten earned the prestigious Peter J. Cutino Award, given annually to the top collegiate player in the nation. The first team All-American also was named Player of the Year in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and Marc Hunt was selected as MPSF Coach of the Year. Hutten and three other former UCI All-Americans, Ryan Bailey, Rick Merlo and Jeff Powers were selected to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team for the Beijing Games. Men's basketball advanced to the championship game of the Big West Conference Tournament for the first time in 14 years. Senior Patrick Sanders was selected first team All-Big West and senior Darren Fells, who led the league in field-goal percentage, was named to the second team as well as the All-Big West Tournament team. In women's basketball, senior Stephanie Duda led the Big West in rebounding and ranked 12th in the nation. She recorded a conference-high 16 double-doubles. The youthful Anteater men's volleyball team finished the season ranked eighth in the nation. Head coach John Speraw was an assistant coach for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. UCI hosted the 2008 NCAA Championship at the Bren Events Center. The UCI women's water polo team finished 12th in the nation as senior goalkeeper Lauren Machanis became the program's career leader in saves. Women's volleyball won 21 matches to tie the second-highest total in program history and had its highest Big West Conference finish since 2003 with a 15-6 mark for third place. Kari Pestolesi was named Big West and AVCA West Region Freshman of the Year. A total of five UCI players were recognized on the All-Big West teams for most in UCI history. Senior Dayne Comrie won the 400 meters at the Big West Conference Track & Field Championships as he led a contingent of five UCI student-athletes who qualified for the NCAA West Regional. Sophomore Alisha Misiaita set the school record in the shot put during the season. Mike Izzi was named Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at UCI in December 2007 after working the previous 16 years in athletics at Stanford University. UCI received Athletics Certification from the NCAA in April 2008. The university honored a school-record 188 Big West Scholar-Athletes, bringing UCI's total to 3,082 since 1983. For the year, UCI had seven All-Americans, 76 all-conference honorees and 80 selections to academic all-conference teams. UCI won two conference titles (men's golf and women's golf), and had three Conference Athletes of the Year and four Conference Coaches of the Year. Men's water polo player Tim Hutten was recognized as the University's Lauds & Laurels Outstanding Athlete. UCI's Big West Scholar-Athletes of the Year were swimmers Chelsea Nagata and Eddie Erazo.
National Player of the Year
Conference Player of the Year John Chin - Men's Golf Scott Gorgen - Baseball
Conference Coach of the Year
Conference Freshman of the Year
All-Americans Colin Mello, Men's Water Polo - First Team Cole Bitter, Men's Water Polo - Honorable Mention Eddie Erazo, Men's Swimming Jon Steller, Men's Volleyball - Second Team Scott Gorgen, Baseball - First Team (National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, Rivals.com, Louisville Slugger, American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Sporting Goods) Second Team (Baseball America) Eric Pettis, Baseball - Second Team (National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, Louisville Slugger), Third Team (American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Sporting Goods)
All-Region Kari Pestolesi - Women's Volleyball John Chin - Men's Golf Scott Gorgen - Baseball Eric Pettis - Baseball Ben Orloff - Baseball
NCAA Regional All-Tournament Daniel Bibona - Baseball Sean Madigan - Baseball Ollie Linton - Baseball Ben Orloff - Baseball
UCI/Big West Scholar-Athletes of the Year Eddie Erazo - Men's Swimming
Lauds & Laurels Outstanding Senior Athlete
ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII Eddie Erazo - Men's Swimming (At-large - First Team) Chelsea Nagata - Women's Swimming (At-large - Second Team) Jon Steller - Men's Volleyball (At-large - Second Team) Sky Johnston (Cross Country/Track & Field - Second Team)
2006-07 UC Irvine Intercollegiate Athletics Highlights 2005-06 UC Irvine Intercollegiate Athletics Highlights 2004-05 UC Irvine Intercollegiate Athletics Highlights 2003-04 UC Irvine Intercollegiate Athletics Highlights 2002-03 UC Irvine Intercollegiate Athletics Highlights 2001-02 UC Irvine Intercollegiate Athletics Highlights
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