Greetings Highlander fans, and welcome to March Madness!
 
It's an exciting time for our Men's and Women's basketball teams. Both came into the Big West tournament looking for a strong close to the conference season and the chance to cut down the nets at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
 
It's also a rewarding time for me as I travel to Indianapolis as a member of the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee for the second year. The "war room" and "Selection Monday" await!
 
Here's a look at what's happening with the Highlanders:
 
Men's Basketball: Against difficult odds, the team pulled together and made a late push to earn a spot in the postseason. Led by Interim Head Coach Justin Bell and the play of All-Big West selections Chance Murray and Alex Larsson, the Highlanders won four of seven games down the stretch to clinch their fifth-consecutive Big West Tournament berth. This season, Larsson also set the all-time program records for both games played and started, and was named the 2018 UC Riverside Scholar Athlete of the Year!
 
Women's Basketball: It's been a record-setting season led by All-Big West Second Team seniors Lauren Holt and Michelle Curry. Holt cracked the program's top-five list for single-season three-pointers and went on an astounding 21-game double-digit scoring streak, tied for the third-longest all-time. Curry willed the Highlanders into the Big West Tournament Semifinals with the first 40-point game in the program's Division I history in an 86-74 win over No. 3 seed UC Irvine on Wednesday.
 
A big thank you to the UCR Foundation trustees who were able to cheer on the Women's Basketball team to victory over Cal State Northridge after the UCR Foundation Convocation on February 15!
 
 
Baseball/Softball: Both teams have gotten off to a fine start with impressive wins over Big Ten and other nonconference opponents. The baseball team has been led by the play of its bullpen, with senior Jared Morton yet to give up an earned run this season, maintaining a perfect 0.00 ERA through 13 games. Freshman Cole Percival – son of Head Coach Troy Percival – led UCR to an 8-1 win over Nebraska on February 17, striking out eight batters in his Highlander debut. The softball team is off to a 15-6 start, giving them the second-best record in the Big West. Seniors Tayler Misfeldt and Jenna Curtan have taken their game to new heights this season. Misfeldt broke the program's all-time wins record in a 2-0 victory over Stanford on Feb. 18. Curtan, meanwhile, became the program's all-time hits queen on March 8, recording her 200th career hit in the Highlanders' 11-0 win over Saint Mary's.
 
Tennis: Our Men's and Women's teams have already enjoyed a combined four 7-0 sweeps this season. On Jan. 31, sophomores Nabil Abdallah and Sara Khattab became the first Highlanders to sweep the Big West Tennis Player of the Week awards.
 
Golf: Facing two competitive February tournament pools, the Men's team had perhaps its best month of the season, led by the play of Brandon Tsujimoto. The senior finished just one stroke out of first place at the Farms Invitational in San Diego and earned another top-10 finish several days later at the talent-filled Wyoming Desert Tournament. As a result, Brandon became the first Highlander to be named Big West Men's Golfer of the Month in more than 11 years! The Women's team has two top-three finishes to its name this season, most recently as hosts of the Battle at the Rock in February. Two-time All-Big West First Team selection Jakeishya Le has continued to blossom into one of the conference's most feared golfers – as have several of her teammates. Le was also named the 2018 UC Riverside Scholar Athlete of the Year!
 
Track and Field: Our teams set a number of school records during the indoor track season, led by sophomore Dilini Amarasekara and the Women's Distance Medley Relay team at the MPSF Championships in February. In the first outdoor track meet of the year, hosted last weekend by RCC, the women finished in first place, while the men took third!
 
As the winter sports season winds down, I would also like to share an update on our search for a permanent Men's Basketball head coach. The university has performed an exhaustive search process since Jan. 2 to find the right individual to lead our program into a new era. Our goal has been to find a candidate whose values mirror those of the university, who possesses a proven track record of success in NCAA Division I, and who is committed to campus and community engagement, extending our national reach, and building on the strong foundation we've already set for many years to come.
 
Several candidates have interviewed on campus over the last two months, with the final visit taking place on March 5. We are confident that our next head coach will make Highlander nation proud and bring a commitment to winning that everyone here deserves — particularly our players, who have shown an enormous amount of focus, character, and determination this season.
 
I make a point of speaking with our Highlander student-athletes whenever I can about their experiences, and I'm consistently amazed by their passion and spirit for what we're building here at UCR. That sentiment was also shared to me by several head coach candidates based on their conversations with recent alumni. Our goal is — and has always been — to become the best in the Big West, and we're not stopping now! 
 
But our road to the top will not be easy. We're striving to give our athletes the resources they need to perform at the highest level. And you can help, beginning with the R'Fueling Station, which launched in January as a place for Highlanders to optimize their health and performance with food and drinks that replenish nutrients, fluids, electrolytes, and energy utilized during games, practices, and strength and conditioning sessions.
 
While the R'FuelingStation is funded in part by the NCAA, donations from our community friends and Athletics Association members remain vital to keeping it fully stocked. To give you an idea of the station's popularity, more than 300 of our student-athletes visited on its first day! Here's a breakdown of the types of items you can donate or help us purchase:
 

Pre-game/practice	Post-game/practice	Snacks
Fresh Fruit	Chocolate milk	Fresh fruit
Energy waffles, gels, chews	Protein drinks/shakes	Fresh vegetables and hummus
Granola bars, energy bars	Smoothies*	Pretzels and hummus
	Light, maintain, gain	Bagels and peanut butter
	Cherry juice (anti-inflammatory benefits)	Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches
	Coconut water	Oatmeal
		Greek yogurt & granola
		Trail mix
		Granola bars
		Nuts

 
If you're interested in contributing to the R'Fueling Station with in-kind gifts and/or fiscal donations, please contact Senior Associate Athletics Director Michael D. Boele at (951) 827-5446 or michael.boele@ucr.edu.
 

I'd also like to say a few words about our locker room renovation project, the Bear's Den, in order to dispel some misconceptions about its status. While the UCR Master Plan calls for some changes to the Athletics buildings on campus as a result of the Mobility Hub, the Bear's Den space will not be removed! We remain 100 percent committed to making the Bear's Den a reality and giving several of our teams a place to call their own.
 
The current locker room spaces are not up to the standard our student-athletes deserve. It's well past time for them to have a modern, up-to-date space to refocus, recuperate, and recover as they give their all to bring home Big West titles. But they need your help. If you would like to take a tour of the proposed Bear's Den space to see for yourself why this project is a necessity, please contact Krysta Plato at (951) 827-6823 or krysta.plato@ucr.edu. If you want to get in the game this month, please join me in making a pledge of $10,000 to the project. Donations can be made payable over five years. You can reach out to me directly to learn why I am choosing to make this gift to the Highlanders!
 
 
I also had the honor of attending the NFL's mixer for its Black Engagement Network at the NFL Network studio in Culver City on Dec. 7. Joining me was senior Camille Deadwiler, a captain of our Women's Track and Field Team and Student Athlete Advisor Committee (SAAC) leader. In addition to a meet-and-greet session with the NFL Network staff, we also received a tour of the studio. Camille, who has an interest in pursuing a career in sports media, said she found the experience incredibly rewarding. "That was one of the most impactful things I've done since being on this campus," she said. "It was a lot better than just going to a job expo or anything like that. It was something where you really had to stand out, ask questions, make sure that you were remembered."
 
 
Speaking of SAAC, the group raised more than $3,600 during the 11th Annual Big West Coin Drive for the Riverside Community Settlement Association. That's over $1,400 more than any other school in the conference, which is a terrific achievement! Thanks to everyone who contributed.
 
 
For tickets and additional information about all Highlander games, please visit GoHighlanders.com or call the Athletics Ticket Office at (951) 827-4653. And to keep up to speed on the pregame festivities, please register with us online.
 
As always, I look forward to seeing all of you on campus, or at UCR Athletics events wherever they may be held.
 
Go Highlanders!

- Tamica Smith Jones