Anteaters honor scholar-athletes

UC Irvine Athletics honored a school record 176 student-athletes as

2003-04 Big West Conference Scholar-Athletes at the program’s annual

banquet May 17 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

This year’s list brings UCI’s total to 2,397 conference

scholar-athletes since 1983.

Requirements for this award include maintaining a 3.0 grade-point

average over three quarters or a 3.2 GPA over two quarters for

freshmen. Student-athletes must also earn letters in their sports.

The Scholar-Athlete award was implemented by the Big West

Conference to honor student-athletes who have maintained a high level

of scholastic excellence while participating in intercollegiate

athletics. UCI expanded the award to include teams that do not

participate in Big West-sponsored sports.

In addition to the 176 scholar-athletes, UCI also recognized

several individuals.

Men’s volleyball player Jimmy Pelzel was recognized as the Lauds

and Laurels Senior Athlete of the Year, the most prestigious award

given by the UCI Alumni Association.

Pelzel is UCI’s only two-time All-American, earning second-team

honors in 2004. He also earned second team All-Mountain Pacific

Sports Federation accolades this season, joining Erick Helenihi as

the school’s only three-time all-conference honoree.

He garnered MPSF Player of the Week honors on April 14, his fourth

career award, the most by any UCI player.

The outside hitter ended his UCI career as the all-time leader in

kills (1,703) attack attempts (3,587) and service aces (96). This

season, Pelzel led the nation, totaling 578 kills and was ranked

sixth nationally in kills per game with a 4.62 average. He recorded

37 kills against Stanford in January, which was the second most kills

in the nation this year.

UCI’s Big West Scholar-Athletes of the Year were seniors Annmarie

Turpin (indoor/outdoor track and field) and Jonathan Endrikat

(tennis). Each conference school honors one male and one female

athlete each year.

Turpin was on her way to her second consecutive Big West title in

the heptathlon last weekend, but suffered a hamstring injury in the

200 meters that took her out of the competition.

She currently ranks 10th in NCAA Division I this season in the

heptathlon with 5,332 points and hopes to compete at the NCAA

Championships in Austin, Texas, June 9-10.

Turpin ranks second all-time at UCI in the high jump, fifth in the

100 hurdles and ninth in the javelin. She finished 13th in the

pentathlon at the NCAA indoor track and field championships earlier

this year, becoming the first Anteater athlete to compete in an

indoor NCAA championship.

In outdoor track and field, she competed at the 2003 NCAA

championships, finishing 21st in the heptathlon.

Turpin is a graduate student in demographic and social analysis

after graduating from UCI with degrees in criminology, law and

society and psychology and social behavior last June. She is a

three-time Big West Scholar-Athlete and a two-time Big West Spring

All-Academic honoree. She earned Academic All-MPSF in indoor track

and field and was presented with the first annual Robert and Phyllis

Chichester Award.

Endrikat, a senior criminology, law and society major, is ranked

No. 22 nationally in doubles with partner Brian Morton and will

participate in the NCAA Doubles championships, Wednesday through May

31st.

Endrikat teamed with Morton to win the ITA So Cal regionals and

reached the semifinals of the 2003 ITA All-American tournament. He

also played in the 2003 ITA National indoors this fall. The duo is

11-5 overall this year.

Endrikat is a three-time first-team All-Big West honoree in

singles and doubles. The team captain has been ranked as high as No.

73 in singles in his career and is a two-time Big West Conference

Scholar-Athlete.

Men’s basketball player Matt Okoro and women’s soccer player

Melody Mangrello received the University’s Academic Challenge Award

from the UCI admissions office.

Women’s volleyball player Dana Kurzbard and men’s tennis player

Wkwesi Williams received the UCI Athletics Leadership Award, while

the men’s tennis team accepted the Faculty Athletic Representative

Award for the highest team GPA. Kurzbard also garnered the second

annual Robert and Phyllis Chichester Award.

* The scholar-athletes:

Baseball -- Jimmy Alstot, Matt Falk, Michael Koehler, Nash

Robertson, Steve Schroer and Greg Wallis.

Men’s basketball -- Aras Baskauskas, Nic Campbell, Jeff Gloger,

Ross Schraeder and Stan Zuzak.

Women’s basketball -- Kristen Green, Katie Sturgeon and Joanna

Usher.

Men’s crew -- Lewis Baloian, Brock Beard, Arah Calafi, Jeffrey

Chang, Robert Christensen, Brad Cohn, Daniel Gromis, John Jacobsen,

Stephen Kelly, Joseph Lynch, Kevin Margulieux, Pedro Morgado,

Christina Quel, Scott Ritter, Joseph Russo, Neil Saigal, Robert Stone

and Jimmy Tong.

Women’s crew -- Kaylen Amos, Elizabeth Barrett, Evelyn Caldwell,

Rebecca Estrada, Kristine Koo, Angelica Lara, Lorna Leopold, Erin

O’Donnell, Jessica Raney, Emilia Ravski, Audra Reed, Rachel Smith,

Rachel Sung, Monika Teuffel, Tracy Turpen, Elica Vafaie, Alysa

Vanderweerd, Eva Vieyra-McDaniel, Sarah Watson, Alisa Wray and

Cameron Yahr.

Men’s cross country -- Andrew Garratt, Matthew Grilli and John

Kluve.

Women’s cross country -- Tessa Cendejas, Janelle Del Soldato,

Melinda Fuller, Kimberly Handel, Veronica Herrera, Jenna Keith,

Ashley Patteson, Karin Ragudo, Kim Ramirez, Natalie St. Andre and

Kelli Vanderburg.

Men’s golf -- Neno Boonyaplanun, Will Park, Ryne Rindfleisch and

Nate Yates.

Women’s golf -- Channing Lovejoy.

Men’s soccer -- Dardo Acuna, Sebastian Galmarini, Chris Klotz,

Cameron Rossi and Chris Ruiz.

Women’s soccer -- Lauren Baer, Leah Dawson, Julie Scheppele, Tara

Weldon and Marissa Welliver.

Men’s swimming and diving -- Kareem Adnan, Matthew Howell, Michael

McKeehan, Suruk Pattanasinth and Daniel Puchalski.

Women’s swimming and diving -- Megan Baker, Franny Brittle, Kim

Do, Codi Jensen, Stephanie Moore, Jayme Yahr and Abby Zern.

Men’s tennis -- Arash Bormand, Jonathan Endrikat, Raymond Hekmat,

Ryusuke Kashiwabara, Peter Surapol, Renouk Wijemanne, Wkwesi Williams

and Eric Yandoc.

Women’s tennis -- Anna Bentzer, Tiffany Chang, Nikki Fermin,

Natalie Jacobs, Hui Leow, Christina Posner and Kelly Savin.

Men’s track and field -- Michael Beerer, Michael Cao, Ian Connell,

Dan Driscoll, Tim Hearst, Steven Higa, Storm Huie, Robert Jeppson,

Derek Kingrey, Fred Lee, Curtis Lehmann, Elias Moreno, Weston

Motoyasu, Eric Nyberg, John Stein, Jon Stewart and Jeremy Torres.

Women’s track and field -- Amanda Armstrong, Theresa Condon,

Jessica Crow, Erin Curtis, Kimberly Harper, Randi Houston, Jennifer

Lewis, Kirsten Loftin, Angela Lotito, Kimberly Mcafee, Amber Nefas,

Corica Rodgers, Kristen Silverman and Annmarie Turpin.

Men’s volleyball -- BJ Fell, Dillon Fitch, Greg Ford, Brett Reid

and Kyle Weichert.

Women’s volleyball -- Sami Cash, Keegan Featherstone, Stacy Gorin,

Ashlie Hain, Dana Kurzbard, Jennifer Moser, Brenda Waterman and Kelly

Wing.

Men’s water polo -- Phil Garcia, Mark Masterson and Rick Merlo.

Women’s water polo -- Michelle Carey, Margaret Feeney, Melissa

Fernandez, Tiffany Frish, Kelsey Haroldson, Erica Horman, Robyn

Kaake, Erica Nicholson, Erika Ranes, Karly Tivenan, Alicia Weider and

Rebecca Wedemeyer.

Sailing -- Pierre Auroux, Juliana Long, Lauren Maxam, Emily Robb,

Carlos Roberts, Austin Rogers, Chris Trezzo and Frank Tybor.