From The Desk Of The Athletics Director: September, 2016

Greetings Highlanders Fans

I know that summer doesn't officially end until September 22, but here in the Athletics Department, we've been prepping for the fall for months now. In fact, our fall seasons are already underway as Women's Soccer, Men's Soccer, Volleyball and Men's & Women's Cross Country have already begun competing by the time you read this.

Before we get to our fall sports though … How about UC Riverside's three-time All-American track & field athlete Brenda Martinez '10?

Expectations heading into the U.S. Olympic Trials in July were that Brenda would make the U.S. Olympic Team in the 800m, but she was tripped during the finals, and was unable to secure a top three finish and a trip to Rio (story and links to video).

She still had the opportunity to make the team in the 1,500m though, and it took a diving effort at the finish line for her to punch her ticket to the Olympics, making the squad by three-hundredths of a second (story and links to video).

Brenda advanced to the semifinal heat in Rio, all the while showing the drive and determination of a champion—qualities which were honed during her time at UC Riverside.

Not only is Brenda representing on the track, but she is also giving back to her community by donating Kicks To Kids (read the story).

I hope you will join me in congratulating Brenda on an amazing run to Rio, and continued success in her career, as she truly represents what being a Highlander is all about. You can reach out to her and follow her efforts both on and off the track via twitter @bmartrun.

Our current Highlanders are already laying the groundwork to follow in Brenda's footsteps. You of course know about our fourth place finish in the Big West Commissioner's Cup Standings from a year ago—the highest finish by far in our 15-year history in the conference.

That was a great first step, highlighted by championships in Women's Basketball, Men's Golf and Women's Golf, and we are looking for more in 2016-17.

We are also looking to increase our footprint out in the community, and to help in that regard, we hired Darron Pinkney over the summer as our new Director of Campus, Community & Fan Engagement.

Two of Darron's primary tasks are to oversee our community relations activities, and to solicit corporate partnerships as part of our Business Partners Program. So if you, or somebody you know, would like to partner with the Highlanders, please reach out to Darron at (951) 827-5425 or via email at darron.pinkney@ucr.edu.

Already, you have seen UC Riverside Athletics out and about this year at the Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center (photos), the 15th Annual Backpack Giveaway (story/photo gallery), and the Bobby Bonds Day & Youth Festival (story).

Work on the Bear's Den continues, as we are completely renovating the 1950s era locker room area that the majority of our teams use. Included in that project are individual locker room spaces for teams, meeting rooms and a nutrition bar.

If you would like to contribute to this much-needed upgrade, or would like to tour the space to get a better feel for our vision for the project, please reach out to Krysta Plato in our Development Office at (951) 827-6823 or via email at krysta.plato@ucr.edu.

For more information on how to support the Highlanders, click on the Giving tab at GoHighlanders.com.

I would like to thank all of the volleyball alumni for coming out and showing their support for our annual Alumni Game (photo gallery) held in late August. That was also the first time that fans had the opportunity view the new SRC Arena floor (photo gallery) which was completely renovated for the first time in 20 years.

If you can't make it out to a match this season, you can see the new-look floor during our nationally-televised match against Hawai'i on Friday, October 28 at 8 pm PT. ESPNU will carry all the action live from the SRC Arena.

Lastly, I wan't to let you know about some new friends of Highlanders athletics that I made recently—Brian "Coach B" Arrington and Eddie "Eternal" Talbert Jr. They are the co-hosts of the IE Sports Net radio show on Fox Sports 1350 AM, and I was honored to join them on air the morning of Saturday, August 20.

You can listen to the entire interview on the IE Sports Net youtube page, and I would encourage all of you to listen in throughout the year as additional Highlanders personalities join the dynamic duo in studio.

All of us here in the Athletics Department look forward to seeing you on campus this season, or on the road if you make your home outside of the Inland Empire. We have a lot of momentum built up from last year, and I can't wait to see what the season has in store.

All the best … And Go Highlanders!

From The Desk Of The Athletics Director: September, 2016

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