UC Irvine Athletics honored a school record 176 student-athletes as
2003-04 Big West Conference Scholar-Athletes at the program's annual
banquet May 17 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
This year's list brings UCI's total to 2,397 conference
scholar-athletes since 1983.
Requirements for this award include maintaining a 3.0 grade-point
average over three quarters or a 3.2 GPA over two quarters for
freshmen. Student-athletes must also earn letters in their sports.
The Scholar-Athlete award was implemented by the Big West
Conference to honor student-athletes who have maintained a high level
of scholastic excellence while participating in intercollegiate
athletics. UCI expanded the award to include teams that do not
participate in Big West-sponsored sports.
In addition to the 176 scholar-athletes, UCI also recognized
several individuals.
Men's volleyball player Jimmy Pelzel was recognized as the Lauds
and Laurels Senior Athlete of the Year, the most prestigious award
given by the UCI Alumni Association.
Pelzel is UCI's only two-time All-American, earning second-team
honors in 2004. He also earned second team All-Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation accolades this season, joining Erick Helenihi as
the school's only three-time all-conference honoree.
He garnered MPSF Player of the Week honors on April 14, his fourth
career award, the most by any UCI player.
The outside hitter ended his UCI career as the all-time leader in
kills (1,703) attack attempts (3,587) and service aces (96). This
season, Pelzel led the nation, totaling 578 kills and was ranked
sixth nationally in kills per game with a 4.62 average. He recorded
37 kills against Stanford in January, which was the second most kills
in the nation this year.
UCI's Big West Scholar-Athletes of the Year were seniors Annmarie
Turpin (indoor/outdoor track and field) and Jonathan Endrikat
(tennis). Each conference school honors one male and one female
athlete each year.
Turpin was on her way to her second consecutive Big West title in
the heptathlon last weekend, but suffered a hamstring injury in the
200 meters that took her out of the competition.
She currently ranks 10th in NCAA Division I this season in the
heptathlon with 5,332 points and hopes to compete at the NCAA
Championships in Austin, Texas, June 9-10.
Turpin ranks second all-time at UCI in the high jump, fifth in the
100 hurdles and ninth in the javelin. She finished 13th in the
pentathlon at the NCAA indoor track and field championships earlier
