Graduating athletes triumph, break records
A year of celebration and triumphs are only a few words to describe the 2023-2024 school year for graduating athletes. Several athletes won distinguished awards for their sport.
Women’s Soccer
Ana Augusto, women’s soccer, won an award at the Outstanding Students ceremony and was named athlete of the week for soccer the week of September 27. An international student from Brazil, Augsto plans to transfer to Multnomah University to study psychology.
Men’s Basketball
This year’s team went 18-11 overall with a 9-7 in conference play. Forward Creighton Hansen is graduating with his Associate of Arts with highest honors and got 15.3 average points per game. Graduating point guard Leonel Sewell is known for his shooting, averaging 9.5 points per game, and his defense play. Guard Roy Bun, also graduating, averaged 8.7 points per game, starting in 19 games.
Women’s Basketball
Forward Rachel Noyce averaged 9.1 points per game and is graduating with an Associate of Arts with highest honors. She was also in track and field.
Baseball
The baseball team which qualified for the NWAC South Regional Championship this year included several graduates. Infielder Danner Salisbury won second team, all NWAC and first team South Region. Salisbury had 158 plate appearances with 119 in conference play. Infielder Shawn Hunt, graduating with an Associate of Arts with highest honors, had a 1.000 fielding percentage and 53 plate appearances, 36 in conference play, with 40 hits and 25 runs overall. Graduating infielder Cayden Lee had 48 games, 188 plate appearances, 22 runs, 40 hits, 10 doubles, and 1 triple. Outfielder Adam Harris, an international student from Australia, earned second team for NWAC, outfield, and is graduating with highest honors after 202 plate appearances, 164 at bats, 32 runs, and 40 hits overall. Fellow outfielder Brody Spurlock is also graduating with an Associate of Arts with honors after 19 at bats, 2 runs, 2 hits, and 2 doubles. Outfielder Carl McCullough, also graduating, had 14 plate appearances with 7 runs. Pitcher Blaine Pinchak is graduating with an Associate of Arts with honors and had two games overall. Pitcher Christian Sabagala, graduating with honors, pitched 30 innings with 9 strikeouts per game average and a field percentage of .800. Pitcher Dominic Tatone had 14 appearances and pitched 44.2 innings with a field percentage of .857, allowing only 2 home runs. Pitcher Landen Parker, graduating with an Associate of Arts, made second team NWAC relief pitcher and pitched 30.1 innings overall with 28 innings in conference play. Pitcher Patrick Richardson is graduating with an Associate of General Studies after pitching 19.1 innings for UCC with 9 innings in conference play. Outfielder Evan Vander Valk, graduating with honors, had 19 plate appearances and a .059 slugging percentage. Fellow outfielder Parker DeYoung, graduating with an Associate of Science with honors, had a 1.000 fielding percentage. Catcher Kaden Clute with 79 at bats overall and 63 at bats in conference play is graduating with an Associate of Arts with highest honors.
Cross Country
Emma-Kate Crouse and Penelope Shipley are both graduating with an Associate of Arts with honors. Bother were also dual athletes in Track and Field.
Women’s Volleyball
Graduating students Andrea Barrera and Haley Saunders were two of the seven RiverHawk volleyball athletes ranked in the top 50 in either the NWAC, South Region or both.
Women’s Wrestling
Mason Ramirez / The Mainstream
Women’s wrestling ranked third overall in the National Junior College Athletic Association at the Indian Hills tournament. In team duals, UCC ranked fourth. The NJCAA governs 24 regions and three divisions. Wrestler Zainab Ibrahim, in the 130lb class, was named the NJCAA outstanding wrestler of the National Championship for winning every match and the title without surrendering a point. Overall she ranked first in the 130lb class for the conference. Zoey Smalley took third in the NJCAA National Championship in the 170Ib weight class. Wrestler Jennifer De La Torre took fourth in the NJCAA conference in the 155Ib class. Wrestler Annabell Garcia took fourth in the NJCAA National Championship in the 136lb weight class. Destinee Harris took fourth in the NJCAA National Championship in the 191lb weight class. Faith Wooley took fifth in the NJCAA National Championship in the 235lb weight class. Avery Shinkle and Angelina Dawson, team captains, are also both graduating along with Alyvia Askren, Attalia Cano and Leslie Sanchez.
Track and Field
The men’s track team finished third at NWAC championship, earning the first NWAC championship trophy the men have earned since 1993 before UCC’s 22-year track and field hiatus (1996-2018). The week before, the men’s track team took second at the NWAC South Region Championships, earning a trophy. Daniel Gee, track and field, was named athlete of the week for May 8 and March 14 and was decathlon champion for the south region of the Northwest Athletic Conference. He also placed fourth in the 4x400m men’s relay with his team. Ismayil Abdoulaye took second in javelin at the NWAC conference championship and was named All-American. Oluwatomiwa (Tommie) Olubisi took fourth in the 400m and placed fourth in the 4x400m with Gee, Will Hills and Ezekiel Wright. He also took third in the 200m and was named All-American.
The women’s team also included multiple champions with Rachel Noyce taking first in high jump for the entire NWAC conference against all the four NWAC regions for the second year in a row. Noyce was also named All-American. Gabrielle Hrdlicka took fifth in high jump at the NWAC conference championships and placed sixth in the 4x400m with Noyce, Mia McCormack and Kasemsri (KK) Miele. Kylie Anderson won first in shot put at the NWAC South region championships and, at the NWAC conference championships, took third in shot put. Anderson was named All-American. Madelyn Sharp placed third in NWAC javelin throw at the south region championships. Taylor Heie took fourth in pole vault at the NWAC conference championships.
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