Anteaters receive accolades

UC Irvine athletes in several sports have been honored recently.

* Junior women’s golfer Angela Won has been named first-team

All-Big West Conference for the third consecutive year, becoming the

only Anteater to earn the distinction three times.

Joining Won on the first team is teammate Selanee Henderson, a

freshman, while freshman Jane Chin and junior Carling Cho are

second-team honorees.

* In men’s volleyball, sophomore Jayson Jablonsky was named

second-team All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

Jablonsky, an outside hitter, leads the Anteaters in kills per

game (4.1) and points (4.7).

* Senior women’s basketball player Ashley Biggins and junior

baseball player Erik Johnson were given All-American Strength and

Conditioning Athlete of the Year awards by the National Strength and

Conditioning Association.

The award, given to 251 athletes representing more than 100

schools, recognizes dedication to strength training and athletic

conditioning.

* Sophomore baseball closer Blair Erickson is among 35 players

named to the midseason watch list for the inaugural National

Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year award.

The award will be given annually to the top relief pitcher in

Division I.

The midseason list features 11 players who appeared on the initial

watch list announced in February.

Erickson finished second in the nation in saves with 17 as a

freshman, just three behind South Carolina’s Chad Blackwell, and was

named to virtually every All-America team. He was also the Big West

Conference’s inaugural Freshman Pitcher of the Year.

Entering tonight’s clash at UCLA, the right-hander has six saves

this season, sports a 1.61 ERA and has struck out 33 in 22 1/3

innings.

At the end the regular season, the Division I leader in saves will

be among five finalists named June 1.

The NCBWA’s All-America committee will then select a winner, who

will be announced June 8.