PC honors top athletes

Porterville College’s top scholar-athletes were honored during the school’s Athletic Awards Dinner on Friday at the Porterville Veterans Memorial Building. And to be sure, the scholar part of the scholar-athlete was emphasized.

So it was quite an achievement, indeed, when Alex Shew of the woman’s basketball team and Brian Lemke of the baseball team were honored as PC’s Scholar-Athletes for 2010-2011. Both athletes maintained the higheset grade point average of all the student-athletes over the last two years at PC as both maintained a G.P.A. of near 4.0 during their academic careers at the school.

Shew, who will play basketball next season at Division II Chico State, was also named as PC’s Female Sophomore Athlete of the Year after a career in which she was named to the all-Central Valley Conference first team both seasons at PC. This past season, Shew led the CVC in scoring and was among the state’s leading scorers, averaging 20.4 points a game. Others honored for their accomplishments at PC during 2010-2011 were:

Male Sophomore of the Year — Nate Brown. Among Brown’s accomplishments this past season was being named to the all-CVC defensive team in men’s basketball.

Outstanding Female Performance of the Year — Sam Nalley. This was a no-brainer as Nalley pitched a complete game shutout, striking out 10 over nine innings in PC’s 1-0 win over College of the Sequoias in softball. “Any time you beat College of Sequoias, you get bonus points from our committee,” said PC athletic director Eric Mendoza about those selecting the award winners.

Outstanding Male Performance of the Year — Kurt Rathjens. Rathjens won two games in one week for PC baseball against West Hills. In his first win, Rathjens came within one out of pitching a complete game and in his second win, he allowed just one hit over seven scoreless innings.

Female Freshmen of the Year: Chandra Jones and Stephanie Dounseroux. In softball, Jones was an all-CVC first team selection, finishing in the top 10 in the CVC in nine offensive categories. Jones was third in the CVC in hits (39) and steals (16) and fourth in slugging percentage (.582) while hitting .379. Dounseroux was a versatile performer for PC’s volleyball as she was among the state leaders in assists and was an all-CVC second team choice.

Male Freshman of the Year — Donald Lee. He took over as the starting point guard for the men’s basketball team and led the CVC in three-point shooting percentage at 56.1 percent. He also hit 90 percent from the foul line.

Coaching Staff of the Year — Softball, Vickie Dugan (head coach), Mike Genovese, Sylvia Harral, Gracie Steidley. They led PC to a 10-8 mark in the CVC.

Community Outreach Award — Men’s basketball coach T.J. Jennings. Among Jennings’ projects were holding free camps for youth in the community had having his players dance with senior citizens at the Porterville Rotary Spring Ball.

Most Inspirational Female Athlete — 2010 softball player Tiffanee Anderson, who died in a vehicle accident last summer. The award was posthumously presented to Anderson’s family and named in Anderson’s honor.

Tiffanee Anderson Award — Danielle Nolan. It was an emotional year for Nolan, who dealt with the loss of her best friend, Anderson. Nolan also overcame an assortment of injuries to continue her softball career at PC the last two years.

Most Inspirational Male Athlete — Brad Ragonese. He overcame numerous injuries to his elbow and his knee to realize his dream of playing college basketball this past season.

Katie Gifford Special Recognition Award — Anja Goebel. the contributions of PC’s athletic trainer go well beyond her treatment of the school’s athletes, which was why she was honored.

Female Pirate of the Year — Katrina Goulbourne. The athlete who wins this award best represents what it means to be a Pirate athlete. Goulbourne, an all-CVC first team choice, ranked second in the conference and 11th in the state in hitting.

Male Pirate of the Year — Nate Crocker. He was among the team leaders in several offensive categories for the baseball team.

Outstanding Sportsmanship, Female — Sylvia Ramirez. All all-CVC first team choice, Ramirez ranked among the state’s top 25 in hitting.

Outstanding Sportsmanship, Male — Josh Meadors. A team leader, Meadors was honored for the second straight year at the awards dinner.

SCHOLAR-ATHLETES

Mendoza said that all of the sophomores who were honored were continuing their education. He noted that the average G.P.A. of all of PC’s students during the fall semester was 2.54 and was 2.70 among PC’s student-athletes. Thirty-two of PC’s 69 student-athletes were named to the President’s or Dean’s List during the fall semester.