LA JOLLA, Calif.—The Big West announced its annual list of spring All-Academic Team performers Thursday and a league-best 105 scholar-athletes from UC San Diego were recognized.
 
In order to qualify for the Academic All-Conference accolade, a student-athlete must carry a minimum 3.00 cumulative institutional grade point average (GPA), must have completed one full academic year at the member institution prior to the season for which the award is being received, and must have competed in at least 50 percent of the institution's contests in the student-athlete's respective sport.
 
A total of 752 scholar-athletes who compete in the spring sports of baseball, beach volleyball, men's and women's golf, softball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track & field, men's volleyball, and women's water polo across The Big West were honored for their work in the classroom and in athletic competition as members of the 2023 Big West Spring Academic All-Conference Team.
 
The Tritons produced the most spring honorees with 105, with UC Santa Barbara the closest behind them with 90. UC Davis (78), UC Irvine (73), Cal State Fullerton (73) round out the top five. By sport, women's track & field had 175 awardees, followed by men's track & field with 109. Softball and baseball earned 103 and 95 honorees, respectively.
 
Here are UC San Diego's 2023 representatives from spring sports:
 
Scholar-Athlete           Year                 Major
Baseball (16)
Aren Alvarez                R-Junior           Public Health 
Nick Costello                R-Sophomore   Human Developmental Sciences 
Ryan Forcucci               Sophomore      Business Psychology 
Michael Fuhrman         Senior              Psychology/Human Health 
Chris Gilmartin             R-Junior           Mathematics & Economics 
Emiliano Gonzalez        R-Junior           History
Nic Gregson                 R-Sophomore   Communications 
Patrick Hackworth        R-Freshman     Business Economics 
Sam Hasegawa             Sophomore      Mechanical Engineering 
Brock Kleszcz                Junior               Real Estate and Development 
Izaak Martinez             R-Junior           General Biology 
Nolan McCracken         Sophomore      Business Economics 
Crew Robinson             R-Junior           Communications 
Luke Saunders             R-Sophomore   Business Economics 
Joe Soberon                 R-Sophomore   Sociology/Law and Society 
Noah Sudyka                Junior               Real Estate and Development 
 
Men's Golf (5)
Elliot Bunyaviroch        Senior              Management Science 
Kyle Dougherty             Sophomore      Business Economics 
Davis Lee                      Junior               International Business 
Davis McDowell           R-Sophomore   Management Science 
Jerry Wu                      Junior               Management Science 
 
Softball (16)
Bobbi Aguirre               6th Year           Human Biology 
Keila Bosinger             Senior              Business Psychology 
Jada Cecil                     Sophomore      Human Biology 
Alexa DeMarse             Sophomore      Political Science/American Politics 
Reilly Erickson             Sophomore      Business Economics 
Morgan Eng                 Sophomore      Human Developmental Sciences 
Mariah Melendez         Junior               Human Developmental Sciences 
Mikaila Pancino            Senior              Human Biology 
Deena Pederson           Junior               Mathematics/Computer Science 
Sophia Real                  Senior              Economics 
Kelley Renner               R-Senior           Psychology 
Clarissa Reynoso          Senior              Human Developmental Sciences 
Zoe Richards                Junior               Psychology 
Kaia Simpson               Senior              Human Biology 
Shelby Thompson        Junior               Intl. Studies/Intl. Business 
Gabby Williams            Junior               General Biology 
 
Men's Tennis (7)
Jett Cole                       Junior               Interdisc. Computing & the Arts 
Phillip Lan                    Senior              Global Health 
William Lan                  Senior              General Biology 
Charles Qian                Sophomore      Business Economics 
Pelayo Rodriguez         Sophomore      Structural Engineering 
Joseph Teh                   Sophomore      Computer Science 
Daniel Traxler               Senior              Real Estate and Development 
 
Women's Tennis (4)
Naomi Nguyen             Sophomore      Global Health 
Ella Pachl                     Junior               Human Biology 
Sophie Pearson            Senior              Nanoengineering 
Katelyn Vu                   Sophomore      Cognitive Science/Machine Learning 
 
Men's Track & Field (19)
Matthew Amankonah Senior              Mechanical Engineering 
Zavier Annis                 Junior               Human Biology 
Miles Bennett              Sophomore      Structural Engineering 
Nolan Crespo               Senior              Cognitive Sci./Design & Interaction 
Charlie Frank                Sophomore      Mechanical Engineering 
Sebastian Garcia          Senior              Psychology
Nathan Garderes          Sophomore      Mathematics & Economics 
Ian Gerth                     Junior               Applied Mathematics 
Nathaniel Grant           Sophomore      Cognitive Science/Machine Learning 
Max Halvax                  Graduate         Data Science 
Jordan Haney               Sophomore      Aerospace Engineering 
Kyle Hastings                Senior              Management Science 
Jake Heinlein                Senior              Cognitive Science 
Tristan Lee                   Senior              Intl. Studies/Intl. Business 
Marcos Milla                Senior              Economics 
Andrew Schulz             Junior               Economics 
Nathan Tripp                Senior              Cognitive Sci./Design & Interaction 
Andrew Villapudua      Sophomore      Mathematics/Computer Science 
Jack Wiseman              Senior              Intl. Studies/Intl. Business
 
Women's Track & Field (23)
Caitlin Billman              Senior              Structural Engineering 
Naomi Chin                  Senior              Mechanical Engineering (Robotics) 
Katie Cuneo                 Senior              Human Biology 
Julia Di Silvestri            Sophomore      Neurobiology 
Ashley Faller                Senior              Bioengineering 
Idara Ibekwe                Sophomore      Human Biology 
Amari Jenkins               Junior               Global Health 
Gloria Kalt                    Senior              Political Science/Intl. Affairs 
Leila Keyvan                 Senior              Human Biology 
Sky Kezmoh                  Junior               Environmental Systems 
Lauren Lapporte           Junior               Political Science/Intl. Affairs 
Kate MacNaughton      Senior              Intl. Studies/Intl. Business 
Megan Mattson           Graduate         Biology 
Adee Newman             Graduate         Biology 
Sylvana Northrop         Sophomore      Cognitive Science 
Elyse Nordheim            Senior              Linguistics 
Sarah Paino                  Sophomore      Molecular and Cell Biology 
Lauren Pritchard          Sophomore      Environmental Systems 
Chelsey Romo              Junior               Human Biology 
Tess Rounds                 Graduate         Marine Biology 
Maxine Schultz             Senior              Cognitive Science 
Isabelle Shepherd        Senior              Biochemistry/Chemistry
Kelsie Yamano              Sophomore      Bioengineering 
 
Men's Volleyball (5)
Gabriel Dyer                  Sophomore      Intl. Studies/Intl. Business 
Jim Garrison                 R-Freshman     Computer Science 
Berkeley Miesfeld         Graduate         Finance (Master's) 
Nick Rigo                      Junior               Public Health
Josh Schellinger           R-Freshman   Business Economics
 
Women's Water Polo (10)
Annika Arroyo              Junior               Psychology 
Lauren Bellavia             Junior               Human Biology 
Lucia Doak                   Sophomore      Sociology (Economy & Society) 
Grayson Mix                 Senior              Psychology 
Abby Moll                    Sophomore      Business Economics 
Courtney Okumura      Sophomore      Biochemistry
Kayla Peacock              Senior              Business Psychology 
Madison Solares          Senior              Cog. & Behavioral Neuroscience 
Lexi Stahl                     Sophomore      Psychology/Clinical Psychology 
Kendall Thomas           Sophomore      Visual Arts (Art History)
 
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 Conference 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 83 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.