Photo by: UCR Athletics Media Relations
UC Riverside Honors Its Own At 2009-10 Athletics Awards Ceremony
6/2/2010 9:26:17 AM | Baseball, General, Men's Basketball, Men's Cross Country, Men's Golf, Men's Soccer, Men's Tennis, Men's Track and Field, Softball, Women's Basketball, Women's Cross Country, Women's Golf, Women's Soccer, Women's Tennis, Women's Track and Field, Women's Volleyball
Please visit the Photo Gallery to view all photos from the 2009-10 Athletics Awards Ceremony
The UC Riverside Athletics Department hosted its 2009-10 Athletics Awards Ceremony on Wednesday evening at Hub 302 on UCR's campus, honoring the achievements of the 2009-10 Highlanders student-athletes and staff.
This year, the UC Riverside Athletics Department handed out seven awards to distinguished student-athletes and staff for their accomplishments during the 2009-10 season.
The first award was presented to baseball junior Justin Shults as the recipient of the SAAC Sports Moment of the Year Award. On April 27, Shults hit three home runs and collected 16 total bases—both UCR single-game records—in the Highlanders 18-10 win at UNLV.
The second award went to women's cross country and track & field freshman Katy Daly, the recipient of the Hueston M. & Margaret W. Harper Award Scholarship, presented annually to the UCR varsity athlete—a freshman, sophomore or junior—whose athletic and scholarly achievements are deemed most outstanding. The recipient must have a GPA of at least 3.20.
Daly earned Big West All-Conference honors in both cross country and track & field, finishing fifth in the league cross country meet in the fall, and placing third in the 1500m in the spring. She also placed fifth in the 5000m in the spring, and was named Big West Cross Country Female Athlete of the Week on Oct. 7.
Senior golfer Scott Clayton was the winner of the evening's third award, the Lindy-Citizenship Award, given annually to the student-athlete who has demonstrated exceptional dedication and service to the university and the community at large during the current school year.
Clayton is the co-director of the SAM's (Student-Athlete Mentors) program and helps facilitate new student-athlete orientation. He has staffed tables for alcohol awareness week, tobacco awareness week, sexual assault awareness week, nutrition and fitness week, and the mental health day spa. He has also helped facilitate workshops for many of those awareness items.
Clayton has staffed numerous party TOADS bars; participated in the reading of names for World AIDS Day; participated in the college chef program, and Portion Size Me (a documentary and discussion about healthy eating). Finally, he has served on interview panels to interview Golden ARCHES program members.
Baseball player Dan Pellegrino was the recipient of UCR's Best Teammate Award presented annually to the UCR student and varsity athlete whose actions both on and off the field exemplify the concepts and ideals of team and teamwork.
A year ago, Pellegrino split time at catcher with Robert Brantly, but this season, Brantly earned the starting job limiting Pellegrino’s playing time. Rather than going into a Derek Bell inspired Operation Shutdown, Pellegrino chose to put team goals ahead of personal ones.
Despite his limited at bats, Pellegrino made sure that when he was called upon, he was ready to perform leading all Highlanders reserves in home runs, and slugging percentage while hitting .283 on the year and committing just one error in 85 chances.
When he wasn’t on the field, he channeled his energies into helping his teammates stay loose and focused on the bench ensuring each day that they had brought their energy to the ballpark with them.
That kind of selflessness is the perfect embodiment of what a teammate should be.
The Male Student-Athlete of the Year award went to Highlanders baseball player Justin Shults, while co-winners of the Female Student-Athlete of the Year took home the award: women's track & field athletes Lauren Reid and Brenda Martinez.
Spending time as a DH, left fielder and first basemen, Shults had a season for the ages in 2010 coming up two hits short of the magic .400 mark, breaking the program’s Division I era record for RBIs, slugging percentage and OPS while crushing 20 doubles and 11 home runs.
In addition to his single-game accomplishments which earned him the SAAC Sports Moment of the Year award, he was named to the All-Big West First Team yesterday.
Three weeks ago, Brenda Martinez became the first female track and field performer in Big West history to win four consecutive championships in the same event when she won the 1500m.
She also won her third conference title in the 800m, and just this past weekend, won her quarterfinal heat in the 1500m at the NCAA West Region Prelims. She will represent UC Riverside at the NCAA Track & Field Championship beginning June 8 in Eugene, Oregon.
Lauren Reid was already the owner of the school’s indoor long jump record, but she saved her best work this year for the outdoor season. She is now the proud owner of the Highlanders outdoor long jump and triple jump records and came within 0.4m of becoming just the fourth woman in Big West history to win both events at the conference championship. She won the triple jump with a leap of 43’ 2.25” and finished second in the long jump. This past weekend, she competed at the NCAA West Region Prelims and finished 13th.
The final award of the evening was the Braveheart Award, which is given to a student-athlete, coach, or staff member who, when confronted with a life-altering situation, demonstrated integrity, courage or strength of character, and in doing so, serves as a role model to give hope and inspire others in similar situations.
Sports medicine staff member Jessika Hunt was the recipient of the Braveheart Award. In addition to her duties in the training room, Jessika has increased the overall awareness of the need for volunteers in the community. She has taken it upon herself to make the Riverside community a better place to live and work.
Some nights, she fosters a cat or dog through labor, and other nights, she spends time assisting the Rape Crisis team.
The work Jessika has done with one of the Highlanders own family members is beyond belief. Ever since Julio Soria from the men’s soccer team was involved in his life changing car accident last year, Jessika continues to visit him and his family to show support from the athletics department.
Continuing to care for Julio and his family is not in Jessika’s job description, but the integrity and strength of character it shows is very much ingrained in her heart.
Throughout the evening, the Highlanders also celebrated their Big West All-Conference award winners, Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) members, graduating seniors, and Big West Scholar Athletes.
Please visit the Photo Gallery to view all photos from the 2009-10 Athletics Awards Ceremony
The UC Riverside Athletics Department hosted its 2009-10 Athletics Awards Ceremony on Wednesday evening at Hub 302 on UCR's campus, honoring the achievements of the 2009-10 Highlanders student-athletes and staff.
This year, the UC Riverside Athletics Department handed out seven awards to distinguished student-athletes and staff for their accomplishments during the 2009-10 season.
The first award was presented to baseball junior Justin Shults as the recipient of the SAAC Sports Moment of the Year Award. On April 27, Shults hit three home runs and collected 16 total bases—both UCR single-game records—in the Highlanders 18-10 win at UNLV.
The second award went to women's cross country and track & field freshman Katy Daly, the recipient of the Hueston M. & Margaret W. Harper Award Scholarship, presented annually to the UCR varsity athlete—a freshman, sophomore or junior—whose athletic and scholarly achievements are deemed most outstanding. The recipient must have a GPA of at least 3.20.
Daly earned Big West All-Conference honors in both cross country and track & field, finishing fifth in the league cross country meet in the fall, and placing third in the 1500m in the spring. She also placed fifth in the 5000m in the spring, and was named Big West Cross Country Female Athlete of the Week on Oct. 7.
Senior golfer Scott Clayton was the winner of the evening's third award, the Lindy-Citizenship Award, given annually to the student-athlete who has demonstrated exceptional dedication and service to the university and the community at large during the current school year.
Clayton is the co-director of the SAM's (Student-Athlete Mentors) program and helps facilitate new student-athlete orientation. He has staffed tables for alcohol awareness week, tobacco awareness week, sexual assault awareness week, nutrition and fitness week, and the mental health day spa. He has also helped facilitate workshops for many of those awareness items.
Clayton has staffed numerous party TOADS bars; participated in the reading of names for World AIDS Day; participated in the college chef program, and Portion Size Me (a documentary and discussion about healthy eating). Finally, he has served on interview panels to interview Golden ARCHES program members.
Baseball player Dan Pellegrino was the recipient of UCR's Best Teammate Award presented annually to the UCR student and varsity athlete whose actions both on and off the field exemplify the concepts and ideals of team and teamwork.
A year ago, Pellegrino split time at catcher with Robert Brantly, but this season, Brantly earned the starting job limiting Pellegrino’s playing time. Rather than going into a Derek Bell inspired Operation Shutdown, Pellegrino chose to put team goals ahead of personal ones.
Despite his limited at bats, Pellegrino made sure that when he was called upon, he was ready to perform leading all Highlanders reserves in home runs, and slugging percentage while hitting .283 on the year and committing just one error in 85 chances.
When he wasn’t on the field, he channeled his energies into helping his teammates stay loose and focused on the bench ensuring each day that they had brought their energy to the ballpark with them.
That kind of selflessness is the perfect embodiment of what a teammate should be.
The Male Student-Athlete of the Year award went to Highlanders baseball player Justin Shults, while co-winners of the Female Student-Athlete of the Year took home the award: women's track & field athletes Lauren Reid and Brenda Martinez.
Spending time as a DH, left fielder and first basemen, Shults had a season for the ages in 2010 coming up two hits short of the magic .400 mark, breaking the program’s Division I era record for RBIs, slugging percentage and OPS while crushing 20 doubles and 11 home runs.
In addition to his single-game accomplishments which earned him the SAAC Sports Moment of the Year award, he was named to the All-Big West First Team yesterday.
Three weeks ago, Brenda Martinez became the first female track and field performer in Big West history to win four consecutive championships in the same event when she won the 1500m.
She also won her third conference title in the 800m, and just this past weekend, won her quarterfinal heat in the 1500m at the NCAA West Region Prelims. She will represent UC Riverside at the NCAA Track & Field Championship beginning June 8 in Eugene, Oregon.
Lauren Reid was already the owner of the school’s indoor long jump record, but she saved her best work this year for the outdoor season. She is now the proud owner of the Highlanders outdoor long jump and triple jump records and came within 0.4m of becoming just the fourth woman in Big West history to win both events at the conference championship. She won the triple jump with a leap of 43’ 2.25” and finished second in the long jump. This past weekend, she competed at the NCAA West Region Prelims and finished 13th.
The final award of the evening was the Braveheart Award, which is given to a student-athlete, coach, or staff member who, when confronted with a life-altering situation, demonstrated integrity, courage or strength of character, and in doing so, serves as a role model to give hope and inspire others in similar situations.
Sports medicine staff member Jessika Hunt was the recipient of the Braveheart Award. In addition to her duties in the training room, Jessika has increased the overall awareness of the need for volunteers in the community. She has taken it upon herself to make the Riverside community a better place to live and work.
Some nights, she fosters a cat or dog through labor, and other nights, she spends time assisting the Rape Crisis team.
The work Jessika has done with one of the Highlanders own family members is beyond belief. Ever since Julio Soria from the men’s soccer team was involved in his life changing car accident last year, Jessika continues to visit him and his family to show support from the athletics department.
Continuing to care for Julio and his family is not in Jessika’s job description, but the integrity and strength of character it shows is very much ingrained in her heart.
Throughout the evening, the Highlanders also celebrated their Big West All-Conference award winners, Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) members, graduating seniors, and Big West Scholar Athletes.
Please visit the Photo Gallery to view all photos from the 2009-10 Athletics Awards Ceremony
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