2008 Woodie Awards
De Anza honors the brains of the brawns
THE SECOND ANNUAL STUDENT ATHLETE RECONGNITION CERMONY
Jennifer Howard
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On May 23, student athletes were recognized for their academic achievements at the second annual award ceremony.
Most of the recipients held 3.4 or higher GPA's, even though the athletic program's requirement is a 3.0.
"They are really high achieving," said Athletic Director and Head Men's Soccer coach Kulwant Singh. "We brag about it and talk about it all the time and now we actually have awards that recognize this group in real life."
De Anza College President Brian Murphy introduced community members Martha Kanter, Chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza foundation, Dolly Sandoval, a Cupertino city council member, members of the De Anza commission, as well as the faculty, directors and managers from around the campus who were among the viewers of this ceremony.
"Sometimes you don't make the paper unless you have something bad going on, that's just how the media works sometimes. But the 5,000 good things we do every year go unnoticed. So this is just a little event that we have to showcase all the positives," said Singh. Besides mastering the books, the students also proved themselves on the track, field, court and pool lanes.
Shawn Lee of the Men's basketball team has a 3.7 average, yet turned down a scholarship to Notre Dame De Muir University and Menlo College.
Dacia Taleni of the women's basketball team, with a 3.43 GPA, was accepted into Asuza University.
Valerie Sultan of the women's swim team was the highest ranking of all students this year with a GPA of 3.92. She received the Top Female Athlete of the Year award. The Top Male Athlete of the Year Award was given to baseball player Tai Mitchell with a 3.8.
Athletes who ranked All-American, All-West, All-State, All-Nor Cal, and the Most Valued Player at this year's conference did not receive awards but were publicly recognized during the three-hour ceremony.
The respective coach of each team was given two minutes to pack in the recognition for these students as well as a short summary about the student's achievements and how they performed. The event proved successful as the students' teammates cheered and applauded the winners' achievements during the adrenaline packed ceremony.
Monica Macer, a returning student soccer player, added to the heartfelt close of the ceremony when she received an award for overcoming her 20 year addiction to methamphetamines, her second accomplishment award this year. Kulwant Singh and the Athletic Academic Advisor Matt Trosper worked hard to put together the awards ceremony for the second year in a row and would like to continue in the future.
Next year they plan to include
freshmen players in addition to
sophomores as awards candidates.
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