May 31, 2011
Davis, Calif. - UC Davis cross country runner Jonathan Peterson, women's basketball standout Paige Mintun and swimmer Linda Hermann have been named the recipients of UC Davis Athletics' top annual awards for the 2010-11 athletic year. They will be honored during the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame and Student-Athlete Awards Ceremonies at Freeborn Hall on Saturday.
Peterson, UC Davis cross country's first-ever NCAA Division I All-American, is the recipient of the Colby E. "Babe" Slater Award as the outstanding male athlete while three-time All-Big West Conference honoree Mintun is the Hubert Heitman Award winner as the outstanding female athlete. Hermann, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Women's Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Year, will receive the Hubert P. Lindley Award as the school's outstanding scholar-athlete.
Peterson became the first male cross country runner at UC Davis to advance to the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships after he finished fifth overall at the West Regional, earning All-Region honors in the process. His 14th-place finish at the national championship meet solidified him as the program's first Division I All-American.
The junior from Clovis led the Aggies in virtually every meet throughout the 2010 season, winning both the Hornet Jamboree and the Bronco Invitational and finishing as the men's top runner at the Stanford Invitational. He was crowned the Big West Conference's men's individual champion, leading the UC Davis men to their first league title, and culminated his standout season by winning the conference's Male Athlete of the Year award.
Mintun capped her tremendous Aggie career as one of the best post players in Aggie women's basketball history, finishing fourth all-time in career points (1,382), eighth in rebounds (609) and steals (160), and first in blocked shots (150). She started all 33 games during this past season, leading UC Davis in scoring (14.4), rebounding (5.7), blocks (56), setting a school record in the latter. The seven blocks she put up against Pacific on Feb. 9 set a UC Davis single-game record.
Mintun became the 14th player in Aggie history to surpass 1,000 career points after hitting a three-pointer late in the game against Saint Mary's on Dec. 1. She scored in double figures a career-best 17 straight games including 20 of the team's final 21 games. Behind Mintun, the Aggies experienced their most successful season at the Division I level, achieving their second consecutive 20-win season, their first-ever Big West Tournament titleand bid to the NCAA Division I Tournament. Her efforts at the conference tournament earned her Most Valuable Player honors. She was also named to the All-Big West first team for the third straight year.
Hermann, a senior from Solana Beach, has distinguished herself in the pool, the classroom and the Davis community. The MPSF Athlete of the Year paced UC Davis to the MPSF Championship in just its first year of league membership, winning the 200 individual medley and the 200 freestyle while placing second in the 200 backstroke. She set four UC Davis records as part of four different relay teams, leading the 400 and 800 freestyle, and 400 medley relay teams to conference titles.
Arguably the Aggies' most well-rounded swimmer, she concludes her four-year career on seven different individual all-time lists and owns the school record in the 1,000 freestyle with a mark that she set as a sophomore in 2008.
Hermann, who is scheduled to graduate in June with a 3.72 cumulative grade point average in exercise biology, has appeared on the UC Davis honor roll every quarter. She was selected as the 2011 recipient of the Ellie Gerhardy Memorial Scholarship and was chosen as the Alfred J. Hoefer Memorial Scholarship in 2009, an honor given to a student-athlete who exhibits superior academic, leadership and athletic achievement. She has volunteered with Access Kids, an after-school physical education program, and at the Davis Senior Center as well as with Special Olympics.
Besides the individual student awards, team honors will also be bestowed on Saturday. The Aggie men's soccer team will receive the Lysle Leach Team Academic Award for the second time while women's gymnastics will be honored with the Marya Welch Team Academic Award for the third consecutive year.
The Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame Ceremonies will also feature the induction of Jason Cox (basketball), Matt DeJong (soccer), Scott Gordon (golf), Greg Lee (tennis) and Tony Moore (track and field) as well as former women's gymnastics coach Ray Goldbar and volleyball/softball/women's golf mentor Kathy DeYoung. Former Aggie quarterback and current Boise State head coach Chris Petersen will be honored with the inaugural Aggie Legacy Award, which recognizes past UC Davis student-athletes for achievements made after their departure from the campus.
Molly Goldbar is the recipient of the Special Recognition Award for outstanding volunteer service.
