SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos Department of Athletics hosted its 9th-Annual Student-Athlete Awards Banquet on Sunday night at the University Student Union Grand Ballroom. The annual event recognizes the accomplishments of CSUSM student-athletes in their field of competition, in the classroom and in the community.
This year marked the first in NCAA DII for the program, as well as, the first year that all teams were eligible to win in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) conference. Over 300 were in attendance as the Director of Athletics Jennifer Milo kicked off the night by pointing out all the achievements the department and programs had this year.
"I want to continue to encourage you to not settle, and continue to strive for national prominence," said Milo. "You are putting CSUSM Athletics on the national stage, and I am extremely proud of how you are doing that."
It was certainly a competitive year with many National accolades for the university like, eighth place national ranking for women's cross country, third place national ranking for Natalie Rodriguez of women's cross country, seventh place national ranking for women's golf.
In addition, 40 student-athletes received exclusive sashes to wear during their graduation ceremony in May.
9th-Annual CSUSM Award Winners
Cougar Cup Award: Volleyball Team
Finalists: Women's Soccer and Women's Golf
Newcomers of the Year: Ndoto Strong, Men's Track & Field
Finalists: Micah Hebert, Volleyball; Jax Heckers, Women's Cross Country; Raven LeClair, Softball
Performance of the Year: Baseball Team, Back-to-Back-to-Back Home Runs
#BleedBlue Spirit Program Award: Emily Sullivan, Dance
Academic Achievement Award: Holly Isaacs and Meghan Randig, Women's Soccer
Men's Teams Student-Athlete of the Year: Josh Spiers, Basketball
Finalists: Tyler Place, Baseball; Ndoto Strong, Track & Field; Joshua Litwiller, Cross Country and Track & Field
