IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine Athletics celebrated the best of 2023-24 at the first annual Zotspys at the Bren Events Center.
 
UC Irvine had seven teams (men's soccer, women's soccer, men's water polo, women's basketball, men's tennis, men's volleyball, baseball) advance to the NCAAs this year, the most in school history. Track & field athlete Josh Farmer will also compete at the NCAA Championships next week in the decathlon.
 
Track & field athletes Chaselyn Amos and Cameron Smith received the Leadership Award for their dedication to their community and efforts for making the athletic space a better place for everyone.

The Academic Achievement Award that goes to student-athletes that work diligently to become a high-achieving student while continuing to contribute to their sport was presented to men's soccer player Oscar Cervantes and women's water polo player Airian Grisham.

The International Student-Athletes Award went to women's basketball player Shirel Nahum and men's soccer player Agaton Pourshahidi. The award acknowledges the extra obstacles international students encounter while participating in intercollegiate athletics and pursuing their studies.

The event also celebrated 224 scholar-athletes as well as team and unit grade point average (GPA) leaders. Women's cross country (3.6) and men's soccer (3.4) received the Dr. Dave Snow Award for the highest team GPAs. 
 
Several specialty awards were also given out with student-athletes voting on team awards and coaches and staff voted on individual honors.
 
Men's soccer player Luke Prueter's final save in a penalty shootout to give UCI the Big West title earned Best Play.
 
Women's soccer's upset of No. 1 UCLA in the first round of the NCAAs was the Best Upset, while Best Individual Performance went to men's water polo Luka Krstic who scored five goals in the Big West semifinal, including the game-winner, on the way to the Anteaters claiming the Big West title.
 
Thrower Jacob Hawkins had the Best Record-Breaking Performance when he surpassed a 41-year old mark in the discus with a personal-best 59.03 meters (193-8) at the Challenge Cup on March 15.
 
Men's volleyball player Hilir Henno, the AVCA National Player of the Year, was named Male Athlete of the Year, while women's soccer player Alyssa Moore was named Female Athlete of the year. Moore scored the lone goal in the win over the Bruins in the NCAAs and was an all-region selection.
 
Women's volleyball player Nicole Feliciano was tabbed Female Newcomer of the Year and men's soccer player Brady Treinen was the Male Newcomer of the year,
 
The night culminated with recognizing the graduating seniors and presenting the student-athlete sashes.
 
UNIT GPA LEADERS
Biological Sciences                          Sameen Andar, Women's Cross Country
Business                                            Justin Conyers, Men's Soccer
Education                                          DeAna Davis, Women's Track & Field
                                                         Kendra MacDonald, Women's Volleyball
Engineering                                       Indy De Smet, Women's Volleyball
Graduate Division                             Ellen Veargason, Women's Volleyball
Humanities                                        Maggie Sczupak, Women's Cross Country
Information & Computer Sciences   Jake Preston, Men's Track & Field
Nursing Science                               Olivia Liuson, Women's Track & Field
Pharmacy                                         Laura Sangiacomo, Women's Track & Field
Physical Sciences                            Mia Colombini, Women's Soccer
Public Health                                     Zachary Baxter, Men's Water Polo
Social Ecology                                  Jensine Bugelli, Women's Water Polo
Social Sciences                                Jacob Pyle, Men's Water Polo
 
TEAM GPA LEADERS
Baseball                                            David Utagawa          
Women's Tennis                               Haily Huynh   
Men's Tennis                                     Matthew Sah
Women's Volleyball                          Indy De Smet
Men's Volleyball                                Cole Power
Women's Water Polo                        Jensine Bugelli
Men's Water Polo                             Jacob Pyle
Women's Basketball                         Haley Hernandez
Men's basketball                               Dylan Thoerner
Women's soccer                               Mia Colombini
Men's Soccer                                    Justin Conyers
Women's Golf                                   Chanelle Hwang
Men's Golf                                        Jason Tang
Women's Cross Country                  Tea Akiaten
Men's Cross Country                        Jimmy Markowicz
Women's Track & Field                    Amelia Trautman
Men's Track & Field                          Jake Preston
 
SCHOLAR-ATHLETES

Baseball
Will Bermudez
Ryder Brooks
Chase Call
James Castagnola
Dub Gleed
Tim Grack
Andrew Grove
Auggie Gutierrez
Brandon Luu
Thomas McCaffrey
Ricky Ojeda
Nick Pinto
Michael Pirrello
Nick Rincover
Jacob Stinson
David Utagawa
Finnegan Wall
Holt Williams
Trevor Wilson
 
Men's Basketball
Justin Hohn
Bent Leuchten
Akiva McBirney-Griffin
Derin Saran
Dylan Thoerner
Devin Tillis
Ofure Ujadughele
Carter Welling
 
Women's Basketball
Nevaeh Dean
Haley Hernandez
Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba
Shirel Nahum
Amelia Scharpf
Nikki Tom
 
Women's Cross Country
Tea Akiaten
Montgomery Allison
Sameen Andar
Abby Binder
Rebecca Bronstein
Makena Castillo
Malia Gay
Stella Knobbe
Malia Leupold
Olivia Liuson
Elizabeth Melcher
Hana Nip
Kaitlene Ofilan
Kaia Schmidt
Maggie Sczupak
Roxane Thomas
Laura Yontz
Sophia Zago
 
Men's Cross Country
Lukas Amare
Jacob Bustamante
Zeid Hussain
Jimmy Markowicz
Henry McClish
Caleb McDaniel
AJ Sager
Joshua Schuld
Cameron Smith
 
Men's Golf
Rei Harashima
Joshua Lane
Jin Nakao
Jason Tang
Darien Zhao
 
Women's Golf
Kiana Briggs
Jasmine Chen
Chanelle Hwang
Coco Yang
Megan Yang
 
Men's Soccer
Mario Anaya
Samuel Atiye
Cody Aung
Juan Barragan-Manzo
Eddy Berumen
Noah Clarkson
Justin Conyers
Nolan DiCenzo
Rafael Espinoza
Elijah Jugé
Josh Kenworthy
Francesco Montanile
Agaton Pourshahidi
Isaac Powell
Isaiah Quarcoo
Alex Shields
Brady Treinen
Roman Warren
Mathias Winum
 
Women's Soccer
Ella Colombini
Mia Colombini
Gianna Creighton
Jenika Davis
Suus de Bakker
Laila El Behery
Tati Fung
Sophie Gillies
Niko Hadzibabic
Marissa LeVine
Desiree Mendoza
Alyssa Moore
Alana Odom
Kori Pickelle
Lilli Rask
Aveka Singh
Kiera Smeenge
Halli Stewart
Kelsey Swyney
Autumn Thompkins
 Mirayah Villalpando
Alyssa Wheeler
Laurynn Ziller
 
Men's Tennis
Ali Amiri
Enrique Luque Rico
Brandon Park
Matthew Sah
Hiroki Sakagawa
Lawee Sherif
Noah Zamora
 
Women's Tennis
Asha Gidwani
Mikaela Hinton
Haily Huynh
Nour Khayat 
Kayla Meraz
Amanda Perez
Jenna Schlatter
Larissa Teramura
Mia Totah
Cydney Yamamoto
 
Men's Track & Field
Brandon Burns
Max Daniels
Josh Farmer
Ashton Fegel
Garren Haynes
Liam Miksic
Jake Preston
Jake Reed
Jarel Sayles
Anthony Victa
Alan Vuong
 
Women's Track & Field
Jackie Acosta
Sarah Ajayi
Chaselyn Amos
Lauren Aquino
Samantha Bartz
Aryel Coats
Nadia Combs-Mahone
DeAna Davis
Isabella Duarte
Savannah Duke
Naiya Edwards
Journee Harvey
Reyna Johnson
Reina Kabbara
Chelsea Kerr
Sophie Lopez
Bailey Moran
Jolie Robinson
Laura Sangiacomo
Hallena Sutherland
Lauren Thai
Amelia Trautman
Deandra Tyler
 
Men's Volleyball
Shane Aitken
William D'Arcy
Conner Dahm
Nolan Flexen
Gustavo Gomes
Maxim Grigoriev
Hilir Henno
Joe Karlous
Andon Kiriakou
Davis Lau
Cole Power
Aidan Rigg
Aidan Schulten
Akhil Tangutur
Beck Weber
 
Women's Volleyball
Marianna Bertolone
Ally Bolden
Indy DeSmet
Nicole Feliciano
Ella Gardiner
Ofure Iselen
Kendra MacDonald
Elizabeth Miller
Isabella Scarlett
Ellen Veargason
Keelan Williams
 
Men's Water Polo
Zachary Baxter
Stewart Campbell
Nolan Cary
Thomas Cass
Jasper Dale
Luka Krstic
Tyler Laymon
Jacob Liechty
Zayd Mahmoud
Samuel Otta
Tyler Padua
Jacob Pyle
Archer Sauer
Garrett Selby
Jack Stevens
Whittaker Worland
Ben Youngblood 
 
Women's Water Polo
Vivian Bailey
Charley Birdsall
Jensine Bugelli
Kennedy East
Jordan Frost
Airian Grisham
Marilynn Hassett
Lauren Hett
Brooke Hourigan
Maja Layden
Alexandra Mould
Annabelle Mundelius
Gabby Norris
Madi O'Hara
Faith Tedesco