LA JOLLA, Calif. – Two UC San Diego scholar-athletes have been honored by The Big West as the conference's announced its women's soccer postseason awards on Saturday afternoon. Graduate student Katelyn Meyer was once again named to the All-Big West Second Team and first year Triton Karize Madero garnered Big West All-Freshman Team honors.
 
A native of Campbell, Meyer started all 18 matches for the Tritons in 2023, anchoring the back line for all 1,620 minutes on the pitch. She was the only Triton to play every minute of the season. Meyer also played every minute of the 2022 and 2021 seasons as well, resulting in 4,919 consecutive minutes played over the last three seasons. On October 19, she registered her second career assist in the Tritons' 5-3 win over CSUN. Meyer was on the All-Big West Second Team in 2022 as well as Big West Honorable Mention following the 2021 campaign.
 
Freshman midfielder Karize Madero played significant minutes in all 18 matches, making 12 starts for the Tritons. The native of Downey notched her first career goal in the 90th minute during UC San Diego's dramatic come-from-behind victory at UC Davis on Oct. 1. Madero is the second Triton all-time to be named to the Big West All-Freshman Team, joining goalkeeper Keara Fitzgerald in 2021.
 
Despite finishing fifth in The Big West standings, conference regulations prevent the Tritons from taking part in the six-team Big West Championship which begins on Sunday. As a result of the conference's decision, for Meyer and UC San Diego's other graduating scholar-athletes, their final on-field memory will be Thursday's thrilling road win at Cal Poly that knocked the Mustangs out of first place in the conference standings.
 
The Tritons concluded their season with a 4-3-3 mark in conference play, including wins at tournament second seed UC Davis and the aforementioned triumph Thursday in San Luis Obispo.
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.