HILO, Hawai`i—A record 74 University of Hawai`i Hilo Vulcans were recognized on Wednesday night (April 10) at the 2018-19 Student-Athlete Academic Honors Reception, held at the Campus Center.

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

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

Faculty Athletic Representative Randy Hirokawa spoke, as did Interim Dean of the College of Natural & Health Sciences Jim Beets, Psychology professor Cheryl Ramos, Athletic Director Patrick Guillen and soccer student-athlete Jaimie Salas.

Salas talked about how she found the perfect fit for her life and soccer career at UH Hilo, after spending her first two years at an NCAA Division I school.

"I went from a school with 80,000 students to one where I was able to get to know all of my professors," Salas said. "I have never been prouder to be a part of a program than I was here. The faculty support of student-athletes here is outstanding. Coming to UH Hilo allowed me to rediscover my passion for the game that I had lost. The last two seasons were the best of my 17 years of soccer. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to be here, and I can easily say that coming to UH Hilo was the best decision of my life."

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 16. The men's tennis team had eight of its' 11 team members qualify.

74 student-athletes with an accumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher surpassed last year's total of 66 honorees. The year prior, 48 Vulcans were honored. The average GPA in the room was 3.6.

Four upperclassmen have accumulative GPA's in the 3.8 to 3.99 range—Billi Derleth (softball), Andi Igawa (golf), Jaron Sugimoto (baseball) and Sara Shimizu (basketball). Six freshmen and first-year transfers had a perfect first semester at 4.0.

"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--Austin Inouye, Dylan Sugimoto, Jaron Sugimoto, Jacob Morales, Gaven Palagonia, Jordan Tagawa, Trayden Tamiya, Casey Yamauchi. Men's Basketball—James Griffin, Kupaa Harrison.  Men's Golf—Evan Merrier, Taylor Patrick, Noah Lau. Men's Soccer--Trenton Hooper, Gabriel Contreras, Andrew Dahrs, Robert George, Christian Ohly, Selvin Sandoval, Matt Wilkinson, Nick Williams. Men's Tennis—Alessandro Giuliato, Ryuta Ogawa, Gregory Zukeran, Luca Checchia, Alan Cincunegui, Arturo Dell`Eva, Max Geiger, Vaclav Slezak. Women's Basketball--Alyssa Movchan, Mandi Kawaha, Allie Navarette, Kim Schmelz, Sara Schimizu. Cross Country—Annaka Barragan, Lily Gavagan, Olivia Jarvis, Caitlin Kawai`ae`a. Women's Golf—Andi Igawa, Keely Kitamura, Kaelyn Uchida, Gabriel Esquibell. Women's Soccer—Alexis Berlin, Maleni Avalos, Hedda Bjerklund, Hailey Briseno, Piper Collado, Bryana-Marie Ebbers, Madison Gates, Taylor Greenwood, Kayla Kunihisa, Jodi Lillie, Jada Macairan, Jaime Salas, Blayne Shoffit, Brianna Valencia, Leighana Weaver, Brende Yoshizumi. Softball—Brandee Chinen, Billi Derleth, Chloe Domingo, Darian Obara, Markie Okamoto, Maria Steadmon, Madison Suko. Women's Tennis—Irena Le, Hina Nishida, Anouk Van Hoek. Volleyball-- Lucy Fitzgerald, Ashton Jessee, Bria Beale, Kamilla Marinas, Maile Powell, Jorene Ulu.