Locals Earn Big West Academic Honors

Ten UC Irvine student/athletes and five from Cal State Fullerton are on the Big West Conference’s winter-season all-academic teams, which were announced Wednesday.

Irvine’s Shannon Anders (sophomore, psychology major), Kirsten Cappel (sophomore, social ecology) and Leticia Oseguera (senior, sociology) were named to the women’s basketball team. Fullerton’s Erin Whiteside (junior, communications) was also named to the team along with Costa Mesa’s Heather Lee, a senior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo who is majoring in food science and nutrition.

Kevin Byrne, a junior from Costa Mesa who is majoring in psychology at Idaho, was named to the men’s basketball team.

Irvine’s Kimi Ishihara (junior, drama), Samantha Kaplan (sophomore, biological sciences), Christie O’Grady (junior, biological sciences) and Stacy Rosenberg (sophomore, biological sciences) were named to the women’s swimming and diving team. Jill Shumaker, a senior from Fountain Valley who is majoring in business administration at San Luis Obispo, was also named to the team.

Irvine’s Chris Benitez (junior, biological sciences), Charles Malki (senior, biological sciences) and David McGlynn (senior, humanities) were named to the men’s swimming and diving team.

Fullerton’s Alexis Lott (senior, political science), Michelle Lotta (senior, education), Christy Lutz (junior, child development) and Katy Maty (junior, kinesiology) were named to the women’s gymnastics team.

To be eligible for the all-academic teams, student/athletes had to maintain a 3.2 grade-point average, attain sophomore standing and compete in at least 50% of their team’s contests.