Icban, Thornton sweep awards

Five-time cross country and track state champion Michelle Icban and

women’s basketball coach Mike Thornton of Orange Coast College

claimed the Orange County Female Athlete and Coach of the Year

Awards, respectively, while Santa Ana College soccer player Nazario

Miramontes and Cypress College baseball coach Scott Pickler were

chosen for the same awards on the men’s side Tuesday afternoon in a

vote conducted by the county’s community college sports information

directors.

Icban edged Hazel Woods of Saddleback College in the voting to

help the Pirates sweep the female portion of the voting. She started

the season by winning the cross country individual and team state

championships, then repeated in the spring as 5,000- and 10,000-meter

champion on the track.

Thornton led the Coast basketball team to its first-ever state

championship in March and was named Southern California Regional

Coach of the Year. The Pirates amassed a school-record 31 wins and

took the No. 4-seed in the regional playoffs through to the state

title game win over Contra Costa, 69-61. Saddleback College women’s

basketball coach Fentriss Winn and Cypress College soccer coach Ray

Haas rounded out the top three in the voting.

Miramontes led the state in scoring for the Dons, tallying 31

goals and 13 assists for 74 points and was chosen the Orange Empire

Conference Player of the Year. He recorded a school-record seven hat

tricks on the season and finished with nine in his two-year career.

He claimed top scoring honors in the state by a whopping 29 points,

his closest competitors both finishing with 45 points. A pair of

baseball players finished 2nd and 3rd in the voting: Jason Vargas of

Cypress and Rob Johnson of Saddleback, respectively.

Pickler guided the Chargers baseball team to its fourth state

championship, knocking off conference-rival Saddleback in the

championship game. Pickler, who picked up his 600th win during the

season, shared the Orange Empire Conference Coach of the Year Award

as the Chargers were co-champions of the conference with Riverside.

Pickler was the only unanimous selection, taking honors over Orange

Coast track coach John Knox and Santa Ana soccer coach J.P. Frutos.