June 30, 2011
DAVIS, Calif. - UC Davis put a total of 20 student-athletes on the Big West Academic All-Conference rolls for spring sports, it was announced by the league office on Thursday. In particular, the Aggie contingent comprised two from baseball, two from men's tennis, one from women's tennis, one from women's golf, four from men's track & field, four from women's track & field and six from women's water polo.
In all, 198 student-athletes from around the league won such honors. To be eligible for All-Academic honors, student-athletes must hold a cumulative grade-point average of 3.2 or higher, complete one full year at the member institution prior to the season for which the award is credited, and have competed in at least 50 percent of their team's contest.
The UC Davis women's water polo team had the highest representation on the honor roll, boasting six among the 26 awardees in that sport. Alicia Began, Ashley Chandler, Kaylee Miller, Dakotah Mohr, Katie Schlueter and Riane Woods all received honors. This is Chandler's sixth academic all-conference award between her years of participation in the Big West, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and Western Water Polo Association.
The two UC Davis track & field teams had a total of eight honorees. On the women's side, Samantha Kearney, Mina Mohamadi, Ofunne Okwudiafor and Lauren Wallace are four of the 56 total honorees in that sport. Meanwhile, Brock Bennett, Jeff Campbell, Will Guthrie and Calvin Thigpen found their names among the 30 men's track & field winners. Thigpen, the school's rep for Big West Conference Scholar-Athlete in 2010-11, has also won fall honors on three previous occasions.
From the Aggie baseball team, juniors Eric Johnson and Nathan Slater made the All-Academic squad among 16 others from their sport. This is the third such honor for Johnson, a third-year player but a senior academically.
Senior Nick Lopez, a former UC Davis representative for Big West Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Toki Sherbakov were the two of the 11 total recipients in men's tennis. Lauren Curry was the sole UC Davis honoree among the 24 women's tennis scholar-athletes, while Amy Simanton found her name among the nine winners in women's golf.
