San Marcos, CA (June 25, 2015) – Palomar College athletes proved to be winners on and off the field this past spring semester.
The Comet softball team won the state championship, the baseball team placed third statewide, and the men’s golf team clinched the overall conference title. On top of these accomplishments, Palomar athletes hit the mark in academics.
Director of Athletics Scott Cathcart said, “Our 2015 softball team, along with men’s golf and women’s swimming teams have met the nomination criteria for California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) State Scholar Teams of the Year, which will be presented at the CCCAA Spring Convention in April, 2016.”
A total of 59 Palomar College spring-sport athletes have met the qualifying standards to earn All-Pacific Coast Athletic Conference (PCAC) Scholar-Athlete Awards, based upon recently posted semester grades. Qualifications for the honor include successful participation on an intercollegiate athletic team, the completion of a minimum 12 semester units and a 3.0 grade-point average.
The honorees include 15 members of the Comets’ PCAC baseball champions, nine members of Palomar’s championship PCAC men’s swim team, seven members of the Comets’ California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) state-championship softball team, six members of the women’s swim team, five members each of the men’s PCAC golf champions and newly formed women’s sand volleyball teams; four each from the women’s track and field and men’s tennis teams; and two each from the women’s tennis and men’s volleyball teams.
Among teams with 80 percent-or-more participants passing at least 12 semester units (the CCCAA standard for state scholar-team award nomination), the women’s swim team posted a program-high aggregate grade point average of 3.25, followed by men’s golf at 3.15 and softball at 3.05. Of 126 total spring-sport participants, 90 –over 70 percent– finished with 12-or-more semester units passed and produced an aggregate grade-point average of 2.84.
Individually, seven in-season athletes achieved perfect 4.0 (straight-A) grade point averages, including: baseball players Josh Bravin and Joel Mitchell, men’s golfer Torrey Munoz, sand volleyball player Kelly Iverson, men’s swimmer Corey Meyers and women’s swimmers Emilee Foltz and Lucy Gates. In addition, Comet baseball player Vince Mori, who concluded his community college career with a total of 80 semester units passed and a cumulative grade point average of 3.92 was selected by the PCAC as its’ 2014-15 Male Scholar Athlete of the Year in May. Among the 59 honorees, 32 finished the semester with grade point averages of 3.5 or higher.
The complete list of Palomar College’s 2015 spring sport All-PCAC Scholar Athletes follows:
BASEBALL
Colton Aaro
Dominic Anguiano
Bryan Boomhower
Josh Bravin
Sam Casinelli
Matthew Flake
Graham Gomez
Chase Grant
Nicholas Holm
Troy Lamparello
Joel Mitchell
Vincent Mori*
Carl Schwettmann
Chris Stratton
Taylor Turski
MEN’S GOLF
Nicholas Bellstrom
Brian Helmuth
Mitchell Kwee
Torrey Munoz
Connor Sims
WOMEN’S SAND VOLLEYBALL
Gabrielle Hutzler+
Kelly Iverson+
Perry Luedtke+
Rachel McFarland++
Hannah Seits++
SOFTBALL
Summer Evans
Keilani Fronda*
Leah Gordon
Kealani Leonui
Maci Lerno*++
Kali Pugh
Anje’lea Stewart
MEN’S SWIM/DIVE
Jonathan Baker
Rich Farley*##
Nicholas Hendricks#
Hayden McCauley
Ryan McCauley
Corey Meyers##
Derek Roy
Ryan Smethurst#
Ryan Sur*##
WOMEN’S SWIM/DIVE
Morgan Brown
Andrea Fairbanks#
Emily Foltz*##
Lucy Gates#
Kelly Harris
Natalie Viescas
MEN’S TENNIS
Christian Corse
Evan Davis
Christopher Orbe
Jonathan Rodriguez
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Teresa DeAnda*
Christina Nguyen
WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD
Maria Linares^^
Brittany Logan
Sarah Martinez^
De’Ondra Young
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Justin Ramos
Jacob Stokes*
* Second-time spring-sport honoree
+ Also Volleyball, 2014
++ Also Volleyball, 2013 and 2014
# Also Water Polo, 2014
## Also Water Polo, 2013 and 2014
^ Also Cross Country 2014
^^ Also Cross Country, 2013 and 2014
# # #
Media contacts:
Laura Gropen, Director, Public Affairs, 760-744-1150 x2152
Melinda Finn, Public Affairs Office, 760-744-1150 x2365
Tom Saxe, Athletics, 760-744-1150 x2989