As we close out 2022, ucirvinesports.com takes a look back at some of the top athletes and moments of the year. While there were several student-athletes that were impressive and contributed to the success of Anteater teams, these 10 stood out for their accomplishments on the conference and national stage as well as in the UCI record books.
HANNAH CHAU
UC Irvine women's cross country/track & field student-athlete Hannah Chau had an outstanding 2022 campaign. During the outdoor track season, she was a two-time All-Big West performer in an extremely difficult double. Chau started the day with a runner-up showing in the 3000m steeplechase where she broke a 13-year old school record at 10:28.19. Four hours later, she was back on the track for the 10K where she was third overall. In the fall, Chau earned her third all-conference award in cross country with a seventh-place finish at the championship meet. She ran a 6K personal-best 20:01.0 to move up to No. 3 in school history. Two weeks later, she placed among the top-45 at the NCAA West Regional. Chau was also recognized for her work off the course/track as she earned the Big West Service and Leadership Award. In 2022, the seven-time Dean's List honoree graduated with a degree in Public Health Sciences, while serving as a SAAC representative, Fresh Hub volunteer, tutor and Department of Public Health Covid Advocate.
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EMMANUEL COSTE
Men's tennis player Emmanuel Coste earned first-team All-Big West honors in both singles and doubles. Coste was featured in every ITA Top-125 Singles Poll in 2022, with a high ranking of No. 60. He played the entire season at the top of the lineup, finishing with 10 dual-match victories. Two of those were against ranked opponents, including a 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 triumph over No. 1 August Holmgren of San Diego in the opener on Jan. 21. He was named the Big West Athlete of the Week following his marquee victory. Coste also defeated No. 120 Phillip Jordan to clinch UC Irvine's Big West Championship win against 55th-ranked UC Santa Barbara.
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JOSH FARMER
Men's track & field student-athlete Josh Farmer earned his second career All-America honor in 2022. He garnered second-team recognition after finishing 14th in the decathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The San Diego native concluded the two-day, 10-event competition with a score of 7,519 points. He beat out his ranking entering the meet by nine spots. Earlier in the season, Farmer was named the Big West Men's Field Athlete of the Week for his runner-up effort at the Bryan Clay Invitational. He opened that meet with a personal-record 10.62 in the 100m, which was the fastest in the field and tied for eighth in program history. He also established lifetime bests in the 400m and 1500m, along with a season best in the long jump. Farmer compiled a season-best 7,588 points, which ranked first in the Big West, 16th in the West Region and 24th in the nation. He also excelled in the classroom as a USTFCCCA All-Academic athlete and UCI's Big West Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
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GLO HINOJOSA
Goalkeeper Glo Hinojosa ended her career with a 0.91 GAA which is third all-time at UCI, sixth with 27 wins, third in shutouts with 21, third-best win percentage at .649, and cracking the program's top 10 in saves with 161 with a single-game high eight at USC. After the third round, she led the nation with 2,220 minutes on top of the 4,283 for her career. She's tied assistant coach Danielle de Seriere for the program record with 11 shutouts in 2022 which included four straight to earn Big West tournament MVP. Hinojosa and her defense have put up two shutout streaks of over 500 minutes in her career. The 2022 streak reached 551:40 before conceding to Brown in the 66th minute finished just three minutes shy of their 554:57 streak in 2021.
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AMBER HUFF
Women's soccer player Amber Huff had an amazing run to finish the season with 10 assists in the final seven matches. Her 11 assists were second in program history for a single season behind Tanya Taylor's 12 from the 2010 season. She matched a program record with three assists versus Hawai'i, the fourth 'Eater to do so and first since Tanya Taylor in 2010, and her throw-in led to the fourth goal in that match. She then added five assists on UCI's six Big West Championship goals on her way toward National Team of the Week recognition by Top Drawer. She also added assists in two of UCI's postseason goals.
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ONYE OFOEGBU
Women's volleyball player Onye Ofoegbu was named American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America honorable mention, becoming the seventh Anteater to be honored by the AVCA and the first since Kristin Winkler in 2012. She garnered first team All-Big West honors for the second consecutive year, was ranked 31st nationally in total blocks (143) and 39
th in block average with a 1.28 mark. The middle blocker ranks 41
st in the country and second in the Big West in hitting percentage (.372). She hit over .500 seven times this season, including a season-best .611 against UC Riverside (12-1-18). Ofoegbu had at least one block in every match, posting five or more 15 times with a career-high nine block assists in a three-set match versus DePaul. She had a season-high 20 kills at Cal Poly, while hitting .548. The junior was second on the team in aces with 24. Ofoegbu's 128 block assists in 2022 ranks fifth in the UCI season records and her 312 career block assists are fifth most all-time.
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TARA PRENTICE
Women's water polo player Tara Prentice, a four-time All-American, was UCI/Big West Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year twice, a two-time NCAA Women of the Year nominee as well as recognized with the 2020 UCI Chancellor Award of Distinction. The 2022 Big West Player of the Year ended her career as UCI's and the Big West's all-time leader in goals with 242, tying the UCI single season goal record with 74 in 2022. Her 74-goal season helped the 'Eaters back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018 and a Big West Tournament title. Prentice was the third Anteater to be named a four-time All-American joining Jessy Cardy and Danielle Warde. She is the first Anteater, male or female to win a water polo World Championship, capturing a gold medal at the FINA World Championships with the United States National Team. She earned undergraduate degrees in political science and criminology, law, and society and leaves UCI with master's in Innovation and Entrepreneurship as well as Demographic and Social Analysis.
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COLLIN WELP
Men's basketball player Collin Welp was named first team All-District by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Welp was the only Big West player to earn the first team District 9 accolade and was the first UCI player since Jerry Green in 2002 to earn first team distinction. The forward concluded his career as one of the most decorated players in UCI history, becoming the only three-time All-Big West first team selection in program history and ending eighth in scoring (1,490) and rebounding (715) all-time. Over his career, he was named the Big West Sixth Player of the Year in 2020, Big West All-Tournament in 2019, Big West Player of the Week four times as well as 1 of 50 players named to the 2021-22 Lou Henson National Player of the Year award preseason list.
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MEGAN YANG
Women's golfer Megan Yang fired a 66 on the final round of the Colonel Wollenberg Ptarmigan Ram Classic to finish second. She carded seven birdies to end with a 66, one shy of her own school record of 65 set in 2021. She joins Jane Chin (2008) and Patty Chawalitmetha (2007) as the only other Anteater women's golfers to log a score of 66. Yang tied her career-best with a second-place finish after a three-round total of 206 (69-71-66), the second best 54-hole score in program history. Only Jane Chin had a lower three round total of 203 (68- 66-69) at the 2008 Kent Youel Invitational. For the tournament, Yang recorded 14 birdies and two eagles over the three rounds. This summer, Yang qualified for the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, making it to the round of 32.
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FRANCESCO SANI
Men's Volleyball player Francesco Sani was recently named to the 2023 Big West Preseason Coaches' Team heading into the upcoming season. He named AVCA honorable mention All-America and first team All-Big West. He was second in the Big West and seventh nationally in kills (4.19), ninth in points (4.83) and 11
th in attack attempts (8.72) per set. The outside hitter recorded kills in double figures 24 times, including the last 15 matches. He pounded 20 or more kills eight times, recording a career-high 28 kills against UC San Diego, which was second most by a Big West player in 2022. The outside hitter was also named Big West Player of the Week on Apr. 11. In the summer, Sani was a member of the U.S. team that won a bronze medal at the Pan American Cup Final Six in Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico.
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