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IRVINE, Calif. -- On Monday, May 23, UC Irvine celebrated success in the classroom at the Scholar-Athlete Awards held in the Irvine Barclay Theatre.

"These student-athletes embody the best of who we are, whether that be in competition, in the classroom or the community," Athletic Director Paula Smith said. "They are truly remarkable and talented individuals that not only inspire me, but the entore Athletics department and University. I know they will continue to strive for excellence at UCI and beyond."

The Awards returned after a long hiatus, not only honoring over 200 Scholar-Athletes, but recognizing five special award winners as well student-athletes with the highest GPA in each academic unit and on each team.

The Team GPA Award was renamed in honor of longtime Faculty Athletic Representative Dr. David Snow and was presented to the women's tennis team with a 3.68.

Another highlight was keynote speaker Steve Smith, former NCAA Champion and NASA Astronaut. Smith spoke about his journey and the resiliency and grit learned from being a student-athlete that played a role in his success.

A new addition to the program was presenting sashes to the 67 graduates, including seven completing graduate school.

AWARD WINNERS

Big West Scholar-Athletes of the Year
Maddy Chavez, Women's Soccer
Josh Farmer , Men's Track & Field

International Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Zlatan Nicocevic, Men's Water Polo

Leadership Award
Hannah Chau, Women's Cross Country & Track

Newcomer of the Year
Indy De Smet, Women's Volleyball

Academic Achievement
Melodie Kapinga, Women's Basketball
Taishi Nakawake, Baseball

HIGHEST GPA BY ACADEMIC UNIT
Biological Sciences – Shreya Pavani, Women's Tennis
Business – Kiyan Mohebbizadeh, Men's Water Polo
Education – Rylee Williams, Women's Water Polo
Engineering – Doug Dahm, Men's Volleyball
Graduate Division – Tara Prentice, Women's Water Polo
Humanities – Zani Meaders, Women's Track & Field
Information and Computer Sciences – Matthew Sah, Men's Tennis
Physical Sciences – Nick Rogers, Men's Water Polo
Public Health – Gianna Creighton, Women's Soccer
Social Ecology – Jensine Bugelli, Women's Water Polo
Social Sciences – Ricardo Ibarra, Men's Soccer

SCHOLAR-ATHLTES
Student-Athletes in bold are the highest on the team)

Baseball
Chase Call, Jacob Castro, Ben Fitzgerald, Abraham Garcia-Pacheco, Dub Gleeb, Jacob King, Thomas McCaffrey, Connor McGuire, Nick Pinto, Nick Rincover, Jake Spillane, Luke Spillane, Troy Taylor, Danny Suarez, Troy Wentworth, Cameron Wheeler

Men's Basketball
Dawson Baker, Andre Henry, Bent Leuchten, Hunter Ruck, Devin Tillis, Emmanuel Tshimanga, Ofure Ujadughele, Collin Welp

Women's Basketball
Naomi Hunt, Amelia Scharpf, Nikki Tom, Olivia Williams, (Tarryn Ross)

Men's Golf
Ethan Han, Kolbe Irei, Nathan Irwin, Jin Nakao, Darien Zhao

Women's Golf
Angela Bagasbas, Sienna Lyford, Gabby Gonzalez, Olivia Canales, Charlotte Ryoo, Coco Yang, Megan Yang, Sherri Yang

Men's Soccer
Axel Adler, Mario Anaya, Samuel Atiye, Cody Aung, Juan Barragan Manzo, Eddy Berumen, Gordon Botterill, Christian Bond-Flasza, Rafael Espinoza, Ricardo Ibarra, Josh Kenworthy, Francesco Montanile, Kelvin Neumetzler, Michael Orozco, Agaton Pourshahidi, Luke Pruter, Victor Sandsmark-Evensen, Mathias Winum, Roman Warren, Lawrence Yamaguchi

Women's Soccer
Scarlett Camberos, Maddy Chavez, Gianna Creighton, Sophie Gillies, Suus de Bakker, Laila El Behery, Aveka Singh, Autumn Thompkins, Julia Gonzalez, Sarah Javorsky, Maddie Lauro, Marissa Levine, Destinee Manzo, Desiree Mendoza, Alyssa Moore, Sam Nieto, Mihaela Perez, Lilli Rask, Hannah Roberts, Kiera Smeenge, Emi Smith, Halli Stewart, Piper Wurth

Men's Tennis
Ali Amiri, Emmanuel Coste, Riccardo Roberto, Mike Mkrtchian-Rovner, Matthew Sah, Thomas Smart

Women's Tennis
Dasee Carter, Alyssia Fossorier, Emily Fowler, Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico, Megan Mansonhing, Shreya Pavani, Jenna Schlatter, Mia Totah, Jessica Tsukiji

Men's Cross Country & Track & Field
Lukas Amare, Sebastian Bautista, Jacob Bustamante, Zeid Hussain, Seth Enochs, Josh Farmer, Christian Hernandez, Henry McClish, Jason Messner, Malcolm Overbaugh, AJ Sager, Jarel Sayles, Ty Sheridan, Juan Sanchez, Joshua Schuld, Cameron Smith

Women's Cross Country & Track & Field
Tea Akiaten, Montgomery Allison, Chaselyn Amos, Sameen Andar, Makena Castillo, Hannah Chau, Jennifer Daly, Madison Elliott, Nikki Fulcomer, Journee Harvey, Myah Hatcher, Morgan Jennings, Laura Lindquist, Olivia Liuson, Claire Livengood, Emma McCarthy, Zani Meaders, Zoi Meaders, Evelin Meza, Diane Molina, Hana Nip, Citlali Pichardo Brianna Potter, Phoebe Roach, Kayla Rodriguez, Mikaela Rosario,  Catherine Salazar-Gasca, Laura Sangiacomo, Kassidy Sani, Maggie Sczupak, Roxane Thomas

Men's Volleyball
Rufus Banks, Jonny Bowles, Connor Dahm, Doug Dahm, Cole Gillis, Gustavo Gomes, Davis Lau, Cade Martin, Alexandre Nsakanda, Cole Power, Francesco Sani, Akhil Tangutur, Patrick Vorenkamp, Aiden Wolf-Nielsen

Women's Volleyball
Marianna Bertolone, Grace Colburn, Bailey Darnell, Carrissa MacDonald, Kelly Negron, Indy De Smet, Gabby Gomes, Ofure Iselen, Maren Palmer, Onye Ofoegbu, Carly Richter, Sofia Skukan, Emma Spindt, Jesse Szymanski, Joy Umeh, Ellen Veargason, Sophia Wood

Men's Water Polo
Carson Arnett, Zach Baxter, Stewart Campbell, Thomas Cass, Grant Chiponis, Parker Fife, Ryan Greenlee, Casey Lynton, Zayd Mahmoud, Kiyan Mohebbizadeh, Ztlatan Nikocevic, Jacob Pyle, Nicolas Rogers, Archer Sauer, Garrett Selby, Michael Swieca

Women's Water Polo
Brooke Banta, Ariana Bockstahler, Jensine Bugelli, Kennedy East, Elena Flynn, Jordan Frost, Jessica Lynch, Alexandra Mould, Maeve Murphy, Sarah Nichols, Gabby Norris, Tara Prentice, Isabel Rack, Mica Schiavone, Portia Schiavone, Kili Skibby, Piper Smith, Faith Tedesco, Rylee Williams