ALLARD, NOUD WIN TOP HONORS AT ATHLETICS RECOGNITION DINNER
Basketball standouts Clint Allard and Meaghan Noud were the big winners at last Thursday night’s 2008 Athletics Recognition Dinner, attended by more than 600 in UCSD’s Price Center Ballroom...Allard and Noud were named Outstanding Senior Student-Athletes for 2007-08...The award, sponsored by the UCSD Alumni Association recognizes the male and female who demonstrate the best combination of athletic and academic prowess.
Dan O’Brien, a UCSD alum himself, won the Excellence in Coaching Award for the third time after leading the Baseball team to a school record 43 wins and a berth in the NCAA Division II West Regional for the second consecutive year...It was the third time that O’Brien has captured the award.
Thirteen individuals garnered Athlete of the Year status for their performance on the field of play...They were Dan Perdew and Kendall Bohn (swimming), Henry Patterson and Michelle Osier (basketball), Whitney Johnson and Linda Rainwater (track & field), Eric Rubens (tennis), Jen Myers (crew), Jason Spangler and Rebecca Bailey (volleyball), Garrett Imeson and Keith Noe (baseball) and Jenny Maze (softball).
Other award winners included John Wingate (Distinguished Alumni Athlete), Gigi & Shale Imeson (Parents’ Award) and Justine Fonte and Dave Payne (Husar Family/TAA Award)...Chancellor’s Scholar Athlete awards went to the six graduating seniors with the top cumulative GPAs...They were Todd Bettisworth (track & field), Christina Sloyer (track & field), Emily Hildreth (track & field), Kim Shaffer (crew), James Ferguson (baseball) and Lauren Forbes (swimming).
The team Academic Excellence award went to Women’s Cross Country and the Triton Athletes’ Council Team Spirit award was taken by Women’s Volleyball.
TRITON ROWERS SECOND AGAIN AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
For the second consecutive year, Coach Pattie Pinkerton’s Women’s Crew came home with silver from the NCAA Division II Championships...And once again, it was Western Washington foiling the Tritons’ bid to win the national title, this time on Sacramento’s Lake Natoma...The Vikings and Tritons went 1-2 in both the eight and four races with WWU prevailing for its fourth straight NCAA crown...The performance in Sacramento capped a season that seems to have stamped Pinkerton's squad as a regular in the top ranks of Division II.
Western Washington finished with a 13 and a half second margin in both events with UCSD was a tick more than 14 seconds up on third place Nova Southeastern in the fours and pulled away in the final quarter of the eights to beat Dowling by three and a half seconds.
The Triton varsity eight consisted of coxswain Stephanie Chang, Kelsey Thomas, Jen Myers, Kali Webb, Alissa Kispersky, Denise Kleckner, Jill Peacock, Maureen Kantner and Kim Shaffer while the four was manned by Caryn Urbanczyk, Kristen Hayashi, Lauren Menzies, Kelly Hansen and coxswain Leslie Nanninga.
NEWS & NOTES...Senior Keith Noe continued to pile up the post-season hardware, earning a spot on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ Assn. (NCBWA) Division II All-American team and was also chosen by the Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Assn. (ABCA) as a third team All-American...Noe is just the third Triton player to gain D-II All-American accolades.
Meanwhile, Noe’s teammate, sophomore shortstop Vance Albitz, garnered a Gold Glove Award from the ABCA for his prowess in the field.
Jen Myers and Stephanie Chang from the Women’s Rowing team were named to the Pocock Division II All-American team.
Seven Tritons earned honors for their classroom achievements...Senior Russ Hardy and sophomore Gerald Houseman of the Men’s Volleyball squad were named top the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Academic team and five individuals from Women’s Crew were named Division II Scholar-Athletes (3.5 or above GPA) by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Assn...They were Suzanne Chang, Sarah Gosling, Kelly Hansen, Kim Shaffer and Caryn Urbanczyk.
For more information on Triton sports, check our website at http://ucsdtritons.com.
Courtesy: Jimmy Gekas/Sideline Studios
