HILO, Hawai`i—66 University of Hawai`i Hilo Vulcans were recognized on Wednesday night (April 4) at the 2017-18 Student-Athlete Academic Honors Reception, held at the Campus Center.

Any student-athlete with an accumulative grade point average of 3.3 or higher who was with a team through the fall semester, qualified for the award. UH Hilo coaches, athletic staff, faculty members, college deans and Interim Chancellor Marcia Sakai were in attendance. Student-athletes were encouraged to invite their favorite professor to help celebrate their achievements.

It was the second annual event, organized by Senior Woman Administrator and Compliance Officer Roxanne Levenson.

"It is important to honor our student-athletes that are excelling in the classroom," said Levenson, who is in her second year at UH Hilo after working the majority of her career at Seattle University and Pepperdine University in similar capacities. "It's not easy to carry that kind of GPA will also managing our travel schedule. Much is asked of our student-athletes in the classroom, on the field and in the community."

Faculty Athletic Representative Randy Hirokawa spoke, as did education professor Michele Ebersole, Athletic Director Patrick Guillen and softball student-athlete Cyanne Fernandez.

All 12 UH Hilo athletic teams had students honored. The women's soccer team had the highest number of players with a 3.3 GPA or higher with 15, followed by the men's soccer team, with ten.

"I am pleased to see so many student-athletes, staff, and faculty here," Sakai said. "It is important to celebrate our academic success. UH Hilo is about challenging our students, and you all represent meeting those challenges and excelling through them."

66 student-athletes with an accumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher surpassed last year's total of 48 honorees. The average GPA in the room was 3.65. "It's great to see this group growing," Fernandez said. "Maybe next year, you will need an even bigger room."

The four seniors with the top accumulative GPA through the Fall semester are Brian Ishola (men's basketball) 3.96, Keani Shirai (women's soccer) 3.95, Kailani Jones (women's basketball) 3.95, and Anna Baker-Mikkelsen (cross country) 3.92.

"Our staff is mindful that events like these help improve the student-athlete experience," Guillen added. "Our campus is unique to the entire country, in that we are the only team in the nation that has no choice but to get on a plane for every single road game. Our students are sometimes gone for up to two or three weeks at a time. It takes great discipline and organization to excel in the classroom like they do."

The following student-athletes were honored for having a 3.3 or higher accumulative GPA.
Baseball--Micah Carter, Austin Inouye, Phillip Steering, Colby Stevens, Dylan Sugimoto, Jaron Sugimoto. Men's Basketball—Will Burghardt, Brian Ishola.  Men's Golf—Adam Chiya, Evan Merrier, Taylor Patrick. Men's Soccer—Cassidy Dixon, Conner Ebright, Trenton Hooper, Kyran Johal, Omar Machado, Xahil McDonald, Jeffry Meier, Christian Ohly, Jesus Ortega, Christian Reyes. Men's Tennis—Alessandro Giuliato, Ryuta Ogawa, Hugues Renaud, Gregory Zukeran. Women's Basketball—Kailani Jones, Alyssa Movchan, Allie Navarette, Kim Schmelz, Safia Sheikh, Sara Schimizu. Cross Country—Anna Baker Mikkelsen. Women's Golf—Anela Dalton, Andi Igawa, Keely Kitamura, Rachel Soans. Women's Soccer—Hedda Bjerklund, Hailey Briseno, Bryana-Marie Ebbers, Taylor Greenwood, Jada Macairan, Shantee Martin, Jaime Salas, Kayela Santiago, Sophia Satterlee, Symone Seidewand, Keani Shirai, Amanda Tuttle, Brianna Valencia, Breanna Young. Softball—Leilani Blair, Billi Derleth, Cyanne Fernandez, Kiarra Lincoln, Jordan Millwood, Darian Obara, Keana Reyes-Burke, Maria Steadmon. Women's Tennis—Madeline Bush. Volleyball—Trixie Croad, Lucy Fitzgerald, Siera Green, Ashton Jessee, Taylor Madrid.