A look back at 2018 in Pacific Athletics

Reflecting on 2018 – Looking forward to 2019

The Pacific Athletic Foundation would like to thank you for your support of Pacific athletics this year! Your generosity has provided over 300 Pacific student-athletes with the resources they need to excel both in the classroom and in competition. Take a look below at some of the Tigers’ greatest academic and athletic accomplishments from 2018!

SPRING 2018 ATHLETIC SUCCESS
  • Women’s Basketball advanced to WCC Tournament semi-final for second time in program history and had three players selected to All-WCC Teams
  • Men’s Basketball senior, Namdi Okonkwo named WCC Defensive Player of the Year and the Tigers set a new program record with nine WCC wins
  • Beach Volleyball earned eight victories for the first time since 2015 and made program history after advancing to the WCC semifinals for the first time
  • Golf’s Casey Scott won the GCU Invitational, the first Tiger to medal under Head Coach John Cook
  • Softball earned its first power five win since 2016 with a 6-0 win over Stanford
  • Baseball had two players turn pro in Shelby Lackey and Cooper Casad and three earn WCC All-Conference honors
  • Women’s Water Polo won their second straight Golden Coast Conference title and Kyra Christmas earned the GCC Player of the Year with 61 goals and 40 assists
  • Swimming set 20 new school records and had 2 NCAA qualifiers
  • Track & Field broke four school records and had 13 underclassman set numerous personal records
  • Men’s Tennis earns two All-WCC honors and Tadiwa Chinamo named to WCC All-Tournament team0
  • Women’s Tennis won the most conference matches since joining the West Coast Conference

   

  • Senior center Namdi Okonkwo was named the WCC Defensive Player of the Year making him the program’s first major WCC award winner since rejoining to the conference in 2013-14
  • Women’s Water Polo clinched back-to-back GCC Championships and earned their highest NCAA seed in program history at No. 5. James Graham was named GCC Coach of the Year and the Tigers advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals.
  • For the first time in over 20 years, the University of the Pacific men’s swim team earned an NCAA “A” relay standard. The team of Yahav Shahaff (19.88), Dylan Toy (19.50), Mason Miller (18.90), and Miles Mackenzie (19.01) clocked a 1:17.29 and ranked 9th in the country.
SPRING 2018 ACADEMIC SUCCESS
  • 31 student-athletes received a 4.0 GPA (Most in last 3 years)
  • 14 out of 18 teams had a team GPA of 3.0 (Most in last 3 years)
  • Overall team GPA 3.13
  • Two NCAA Elite 90 Awards
  • Andrea De Nardi and Viktoria Tamas of Men’s and Women’s Water Polo were each awarded the NCAA Elite 90 Award after the 2017-18 season. This is a prestigious honor which recognizes student-athletes who have reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level, as well as achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. Both De Nardi and Tamas held the highest cumulative GPA of a 4.0. Click here to view video.
  • Nearly 80 student-athletes awarded their diplomas at May 2018 graduation
FALL 2018 ATHLETIC SUCCESS
  • Cross Country finished in second place at the Big Wave Invitational and Jasmine Gonalez finished 18th in the 6k at the WCC Championships earning the highest placing by a Pacific runner in program history
  • Men’s Soccer reached the NCAA Tournament second round for the third year in a row and had two players named All-Americans
  • Field Hockey won the team’s fourth-straight America East Western Division title and had 2 earn all-conference honors
  • Women’s Soccer senior, Kendall Bietsch earned a spot on the All-West Coast Conference team as an honorable mention
  • Men’s Water Polo won the Golden Coast Conference for the second year in a row and landed four on the GCC Postseason Team, including Luke Pavillard as the Player of the Year
  • Volleyball’s Kaitlyn Lines was named to the All-WCC First Team Riley Ramsey earned a spot on the All-WCC Freshman team

  • Senior Kriekie van Wyk was named to the Synapse Sports All-America Third Team. She became the second player in program history to be named All-America on three occasions. Her stellar career concluded with 61 goals and 22 assists for 144 points in just 3 years as a Tiger.
  • For the first time in program history, two Tigers were named All-Americans in a season. Seniors Camden Riley and Wouter Verstraaten were each second-team selections by the United Soccer Coaches. Riley was the WCC Player of the Year and Verstraaten named the WCC Defensive Player of the Year.

The PAF would like to thank you again for making 2018 a year to remember! We hope to have your continued support as we head into 2019. If you are interested in making a year end tax-deductible gift, you can do so by clicking here prior to midnight on December 31. Every gift contributes to the success of our current and future student-athletes as we aim to provide them the best experience possible! Thank you and GO TIGERS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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