Athletics Hall Of Fame To Honor Six At 2017 Induction Ceremony

Riverside—The UC Riverside Athletics Hall of Fame is expanding its membership by six come April 15, 2017 as the Highlanders announced today that Regina Carbajal Legates (Women's Volleyball), Deanna Dresmann (Softball), Troy Percival (Baseball), Brendan Steele (Men's Golf), Doug Smith (Baseball) and Dr. Aaron Rubin (Team Physician) will enter the Hall as the Class of 2017.

"This is a remarkably talented and diverse group of student-athletes, coaches and contributors who made their mark on the athletics department, the university and the community through their efforts both on and off the fields of competition," said Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tamica Smith Jones. "I know that the entirety of the Inland Empire joins me in congratulating them, and I cordially invite all of you to help us celebrate their achievements this coming April."

The Mission Inn's Grand Parisian Ballroom is the site of the 2017 UC Riverside Athletics Hall of Fame. The pre-event cocktail hour in the Glenwood Tavern begins at 5 pm PT, while the dinner and induction ceremony gets underway at 6 pm.

Cost for individuals to attend is $150. For additional information, or to inquire about purchasing a discounted table or becoming a corporate partner for the event, please contact UC Riverside Special Events Coordinator Arturo Cabrera at 951-827-5432.

Regina Carbajal Legates
Women's Volleyball (1987-90)
Regina Carbajal Legates earned three All-America awards during her four seasons with the Highlanders, taking home Second Team honors in 1988 and First Team accolades in 1989 and 1990.

UC Riverside went 87-38 during her four years, including 37-9 in conference, appearing in four NCAA Tournaments. The Highlanders finished the season ranked ninth in the nation in 1987, fourth in 1988, third in 1989 and 12th in 1990.

A three-time All-CCAA honoree, Carbajal is still the Highlanders career assists leader with 4,492-nearly 1,000 more than her nearest competitor. She also ranks second in career assists per match, fifth in service aces, fourth in digs, and third in hitting percentage.

In addition, Carbajal owns the first, second and fourth spots on the Highlanders single-season assist chart, with her 1,348 in 1990 serving as the program benchmark. She also posted a .375 hitting percentage that season which is the third highest in UCR history.

Deanna Dresmann
Softball (1988-91)
In four seasons at UC Riverside, Deanna Dresmann posted a .496 career batting average which leads the second place member of the Highlanders on that list by nearly 50 points, and the third place member by 130 points.

She also sits atop UC Riverside's career on base percentage (.534) and stolen base charts (107), and still ranks 10th in runs scored (84), sixth in hits (176), and sixth in slugging percentage (.510).

Dresmann's 1990 campaign was her best, as she set program records in batting average (.544—79 points better than the next highest in school history), on base percentage (.583), runs (59—13 more than second place on the list), hits (99—20 more than second place), and stolen bases (78—31 more than second place). All that, and more, earned her All-American honors at season's end.

The following season she hit .445 (third on the UCR single-season list) with a .481 on base percentage (ninth), 77 base hits (third), and 29 stolen bases (third).

Troy Percival
Baseball (1988-90)
Percival was a catcher during his three years with the Highlanders, and was drafted after his junior year by the California Angels in the sixth round of the 1990 Amateur Draft.

Following a year as a catcher in the minors, Percival was converted to a relief pitcher, and during his rookie season of 1995, he finished fourth in American League Rookie of the Year balloting, going 3-2 with three saves and a 1.95 ERA, striking out 94 batters in 74.0 innings. The Angels made him their full-time closer in 1996, and he rewarded them by recording 36 saves and striking out 100 batters in 74.0 innings. Percival earned his first of four All-Star nods that season as he finished fourth in the league in saves.

Two years later he would notch 42 saves, the second most in Angels history at the time, en route to his second All-Star selection. Percival recorded 30 or more saves in each of the next six seasons, including the 2002 campaign where he went 4-1 with a 1.92 ERA and 40 saves. He also was credited with seven saves during the Angels 2002 postseason run, including Game 7 of the Halos' World Series victory over the San Francisco Giants.

By the time his professional career ended in 2009, Percival had 358 saves on his big-league résumé, which is still ninth on Major League Baseball's all-time career list.

Since his retirement from major league baseball, Percival has worked as a volunteer pitching coach for Riverside Poly High School in Riverside (2010-12), and for the past two seasons has been the head coach at his high school alma mater, Moreno Valley High School. He also spent a year working in the Angels organization as a roving pitching instructor.

Percival has remained active with the Highlanders since being drafted by the Angels, working out with the team in preparation for spring training, and attending alumni games and golf fundraisers for the program. He also famously paid for and built the Highlanders' locker rooms at the Riverside Sports Complex prior to the 2007 season.

In the summer of 2014, Percival was named the head baseball coach at UC Riverside.

Brendan Steele
Men's Golf (2002-05)
Current PGA golfer Brendan Steele led the UC Riverside Men's Golf Team to the athletics department's first two Big West Conference Championships, as the Highlanders were named co-Champions in 2004, and won the conference title outright in 2005.

Brendan earned All-Big West accolades in each of his four seasons with a second-team nod as a freshman, and First-Team honors in each of his last three years with the program. He was also an All-Big West Academic honoree as a junior and senior, and twice was named Big West Golfer of the Month.

As a senior, Brendan became the first and only member of the Highlanders to date during their Big West era to shoot under par for the entire season (71.5), beating his own record by nearly three-quarters of a stroke.

He also owns nearly every other record in the program's Division I history including, career scoring average (72.27), single-season (3 in 2001-02) and career tournament wins (5), single-season (21 in 2003-04) and career rounds of par or better (69), and singles-season (86.6% in 2003-04) and career finish percentage (82.9%). His career scoring average is nearly a full stroke better than his nearest UC Riverside competitor.

Brendan won his first PGA title in 2011, and a year ago, recorded a top-50 finish in the Fed Ex Cup Standings.

Doug Smith
Head Baseball Coach (2005-2014)
Doug Smith graduated from UC Riverside in 1975 with bachelor's degrees in sociology and political science. An outstanding catcher, his senior year was highlighted by his performance in the Riverside Baseball Invitational Tournament, where he helped lead the Highlanders to their first-ever title, and was the leading hitter at .471. Following the season, he was named All-CCAA First Team.

Smith served as a part-time assistant coach from 1976 through 1980 while he pursued a master's degree in physical education from Cal Poly Pomona. The 1977 squad won the Highlanders first of two NCAA Division II National Championships. After taking three years off to venture into private business, Smith returned to the Highlanders in 1983 and remained a fixture in the UC Riverside dugout for the next 31 years.

He was appointed as the fourth head baseball coach in UC Riverside history in September 2004, and after 10 seasons at the helm of the Highlanders, Smith retired on June 3, 2014 with an overall record of 272-264 including a 117-117 mark in Big West competition. That includes UC Riverside's first Big West Conference Baseball Championship in 2007 and a trip to the NCAA Regionals that same year. After the season, with a program-best conference record of 16-5 in tow, Smith was named Big West Coach of the Year.

In a collegiate career spanning nearly 2,000 games, Smith helped the Highlanders to 10 postseason appearances, including one Division II National Championship, one Big West Conference Title, and two NCAA Division I West Regional appearances.

In his career, Smith coached over 200 all-conference selections and 34 All-America selections. During that time, nearly 150 of his players signed to professional contracts, and 15 made it to the big leagues including current UC Riverside Head Coach, and Los Angeles Angels World Series closer, Troy Percival.

Dr. Aaron Rubin
Head Team Physician (1992-present)
Dr. Aaron Rubin started his Sports Medicine Fellowship in 1991 and was assigned to UC Riverside. He became the Highlanders' head team physician after he completed his fellowship in 1992. Since then, Dr. Rubin has served as the program director for Kaiser Fontana's Sports Medicine Fellowship program.

Through the fellowship, Dr. Rubin has supervised the fellows assigned to UC Riverside who have provided more than 3,500 in-house medical exams to expedite our athletes return to play.

Dr. Rubin has also provided medical coverage for more than 330 basketball home games, 60 cross country meets, and over 30 home track meets. Dr. Rubin has also overseen more than 5,000 physical exams. In all, Dr. Rubin's efforts have saved the athletics department nearly three-quarters of a million dollars over the past 25 years. .

Ten years ago, Dr. Rubin was appointed as the head physician for the Big West Conference Basketball Championships. He and his team have provided medical coverage for every championship basketball game played at the Anaheim Convention Center and Honda Center over the past 10 years. In addition they have provided medical coverage for every championship event hosted on UC Riverside's campus.

Athletics Hall Of Fame To Honor Six At 2017 Induction Ceremony

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