From The Desk Of The Athletics Director: December, 2016

Greetings Highlanders Fans!

I hope that you have recovered from stuffing yourselves over Thanksgiving, and that you were able to spend time with family and friends during the long weekend.

Although our basketball teams managed to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner, it has been all business of late for both the men's and women's programs. They squared off against some of their toughest competition of the non-conference season over the past few weeks, with the women traveling to USC and Cal, and hosting South Dakota; and the men making their way to UNLV, Utah and #11 UCLA.

Big West play will be here before you know it, so be sure to secure your tickets for both the men's and the women's seasons by reaching out to Chelsea Weiss in the athletics ticket office at (951) 827-4653.

As the holiday season approaches, we remember that there are many in our communities who are less fortunate than we are, and for the second year in a row, the Highlanders are partnering with the Riverside Police Department as part of their "Stuff The Police Car Toy Drive."

Won't you please help us put a smile on the faces of area children by attending our Women's Basketball Team's December 10 game against Seattle at 5 pm, and/or the Men's Basketball Team's December 17 meeting with Montana at 5 pm, and bringing an unwrapped toy to donate? All fans who do will receive the discounted group admission price to those games—$5 for the men's and $3 for the women's.

Thanks to all of you who were able to attend R' Extreme Makeover: Highlander edition the afternoon of Homecoming. We met with a number of supporters, both old and new, who expressed an interest in helping us with our Bear's Den project, designed to upgrade our locker room facilities here on campus (view Homecoming Photo Gallery).

If you were unable to join us, but would like additional information on how you can assist in our efforts, please reach out to Krysta Plato in our Development Office at (951) 827-6823. She can also help arrange a private tour of the current facility, and share with you our vision for giving UC Riverside's 300-plus student-athletes a premier, Division I experience.

The giving spirit was in full effect on Tuesday, November 29, as UC Riverside took part in the National Day of Giving, also known as Giving Tuesday. As you well know, athletes are a pretty competitive bunch, so we turned our Giving Tuesday into a competition among the Highlanders' 17 sports. Each program was responsible for reaching out to its alumni, and the program with the highest percentage of participants on the day was declared the winner.

All of our programs did a terrific job, but it was Coach Patton-Coleman and the Volleyball program that walked away with the grand prize. Their efforts were punctuated with a series of video asks, and a great deal of social media activity, which in turn inspired their alumnae to the championship. That is of course nothing new to a program that has three national championships to its credit.

Thanks to all of you who participated, and we look forward to an equally spirited Giving Tuesday challenge next year.

All of our fall seasons ended last month, and we had 11 student-athletes earn All-Conference honors—Faith Makau and Weslie Totten in Women's Cross Country; Stephen Copley, Philipp Dominique, Romario Lomeli, Victor Morales and Eduardo Sanchez in Men's Soccer; Blanca Barrio and Hailey Maxwell in Women's Soccer; and Maddie Hubbell and Mickayla Sherman in Volleyball.

Congratulations to all of our honorees on their accomplishments this season, as well as to all of our seniors who wore their uniform for the final time this fall.

Next up for the Highlanders are final exams for the fall quarter, and then a well-deserved break for the holidays.

We have five home basketball games between now and the start of the winter term, and are offering free tickets to first responders and military personnel in the community. Merely show your work ID at the door of the SRC Arena. Your family members may attend at the group ticket price.

You will also want to circle January 12 and 21 on your calendar as those are the dates that we hand out championship rings to our Big West team title winners from a year ago. Women's Basketball receives their rings at halftime of the Men's Basketball Game on Thursday, January 12 which is scheduled to tip off at 8 pm PT. Men's and Women's Golf receive their rings at halftime of the Women's Basketball Game on Saturday, January 21, which tips at 7 pm.

As we close the book on 2016, let me thank each and every one of you for your continued support of the Highlanders. In my 18 months as athletics director, I have met, and continue to meet members of our extended UC Riverside family whose dedication to the cause of the department and the university knows no bounds. I am proud to call myself a member of the Riverside community, and anxiously await all that 2017 has in store.

All the best, and Go Highlanders!

From The Desk Of The Athletics Director: December, 2016

Related News

Related Videos

Footer