SAN DIEGO - Anji Shakya, a former national champion swimmer at UC San Diego, and Troy Cruz, a junior baseball standout for the Tritons, have both been selected as 2014 Amateur Stars of the Year by the San Diego Hall of Champions (SDHOC).
Shakya and Cruz are among eight amateur honorees. They will be recognized for their achievements at the 69th Annual Salute to the Champions on Monday, Feb. 23, at the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center.
Shakya won her second career national title as a senior in 2014. The Davis product placed first in the 500-yard freestyle at the 2014 NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships in Geneva, Ohio, last March. Shakya clocked 4:49.51 in leading the final of the 500 from the start on the night of March 14. She was also fifth in the 200 free (1:49.25) and was part of four relays that reached championship finals. The second-place 800 free relay shattered the school record by over a second and a half at 7:22.00. With six more top-eight finishes, Shakya, a two-time Triton captain and two-time UCSD Athlete of the Year, concluded her incredible college career as a 19-time All-American and school record-holder in both the 200 and 500 free. She was also the conference's female Swimmer of the Year for 2014, winning league titles in two individual and three relay events. Shakya was named an SDHOC Star of the Month for a second time in March following the NCAA Championships.
Cruz had an outstanding sophomore campaign in 2014 that saw him earn SDHOC Star of the Month honors twice, in April for his performance at UCSD, and again in August after he helped lead his summer-ball Santa Barbara Foresters to a National Baseball Congress World Series title in Wichita, Kan., as their closer. Cruz is a dual threat for the Tritons as both an infielder and starting pitcher. He hit .326 in 2014 with 33 runs scored, 11 doubles, three triples, 39 RBI and a team-high nine stolen bases. The right-hander also went 8-3 on the mound with a 2.90 ERA over a team-best 87.0 innings pitched, tossing four complete games. Cruz guided UCSD to a record sixth California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) tournament title. The banner earned the Tritons the right to host the six-team NCAA Division II Championship West Regional as the top seed, with UCSD ultimately upended by rival Chico State in the West Region final. A San Diego native out of Chula Vista and Bonita Vista High School, Cruz wound up with Daktronics All-America Third Team and All-CCAA First Team distinction. He was the 2013 CCAA Freshman of the Year.
Shakya is now a two-time SDHOC Star of the Year, having also been chosen for 2013 after bringing home her first national crown in the 200 free. Former softball great and current second-year Triton assistant coach Camille Gaito was UCSD's previous honoree for 2012.
Nicholas Korth, like Shakya a former two-time national champion swimmer and two-time team captain for the Tritons, will be recognized at the Salute to the Champions, too, as a Significant Achievement award winner. Korth earned his second national title in the 200-yard breaststroke in a Division II record time at the 2014 NCAA Championships, and was thus a SDHOC Star of the Month for March.
Also invited to be in attendance and honored on Feb. 23 at the Town and Country Convention Center will be UCSD's 11 other Stars of the Month for 2014. The remaining Triton affiliates named were men's basketball's James McCann (January), women's water polo's Sarah Lizotte (February), men's swimmer Paul Li (February), track and field's Nash Howe and Sabrina Pimentel (May), former baseball pitcher Tim Shibuya (June), women's volleyball's Caitlin Brenton (September), men's water polo's Josh Stiling (October) and Joe Dietrich (December), women's cross country's Paige Hughes (November), and women's basketball's Farrah Shokoor (December).
Tickets to the Salute to the Champions awards banquet are available by contacting Terri Rochon at terrir@sdhoc.com, or by calling 619-699-2302. Former San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson, baseball great Chris Chambliss and baseball/basketball standout Tony Clark will be inducted that same evening into the Breitbard Hall of Fame.
ABOUT THE HALL OF CHAMPIONS
The SDHOC is an undisputed national leader in recognition of amateur, collegiate and professional sports excellence; youth sports-based education; and sports memorabilia exhibition. The Hall was launched by the Breitbard Athletic Foundation, which was founded in 1946 to recognize significant athletic achievement in San Diego. Through its vigilant focus on the community of San Diego and its betterment, SDHOC has developed an outstanding sports museum that enhances the quality of life for San Diegans through sports. For more information, please visit www.sdhoc.com.
#TritonsRising
