De Anza College’s fifth annual student-athlete recognition ceremony took place June 2 in the Campus Center rooms A and B. Nineteen sports programs were highlighted, but the focus of the ceremony was to honor the academic achievements of its sophomore student-athletes.

The event was hosted by Matt Trosper, the Academic Adviser for De Anza. Director of Athletics Kulwant Singh, De Anza President Brian Murphy and Linda Thor, chancellor for the Foothill-De Anza Community College District made congratulatory appearances.

Each coach was given the opportunity to honor those individuals with high marks in the classroom as well as in their sport. Coaches summarized the accomplishments of their respective sports throughout the year. De Anza has one of the largest comunity college athletic departments in the state with about 480 athletes.

De Anza finished the year with 10 All-Americans and 17 All-State athletes. Five teams won Coast Conference championships with four runners up. De Anza’s football team won a bowl game for the first time in 22 years, men’s soccer won the Conference Championship for the 20th time in their history, and the women’s cross country team finished fifth in the state, its highest finish in 33 years.

Part of the ceremony was devoted to recognizing scholar-athletes of the year. To be considered, a scholar-athlete must have a minimum 3.5 G.P.A, have competed for two seasons in at least one sport and demonstrated a strong commitment to community service. Four scholarships were awarded, the winners received a $1,000 scholarship with the runners up receiving a $750 scholarship.

“It’s a great way to end the year,” said Justin Ma, the male runner up for the award. “It’s a good last memory for De Anza.” Ma took over 20 units a quarter while he was also an integral part of the men’s swimming and diving team. He plans to have the same athletic commitment to UC Santa Cruz while double majoring in English and film. “I’ll be networking like crazy,” he said.

Hio Hei (Phoenix) Chan was the female runner up scholar-athlete of the year, but was the only finalist with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Chan was a two-sport athlete, competing for the women’s water polo team as well as the swimming and diving squad. An international student from Macau, China, Chan credits part of her success to her teammates and coaches.

“In the beginning I couldn’t speak very good English,” she said. “They never gave me a hard time … they really helped me communicate.” Chan plans on continuing her academic and athletic career at UCLA.

Hiram Alvarez was the winning male recipient of the award as well as a standout for the men’s soccer team. Alvarez earned high marks in class as well as in the community for volunteering as a soccer coach for his home town on the east side of San Jose. Alvarez said the award feels like a perfect culmination for the hard work he put in on the field as well as in the classroom. “I don’t know that many people are aware of what the schedule is like for a student-athlete,” he said. “It’s very demanding … a lot of sacrifices have to be made.” Alvarez will be staying local in his life after De Anza, transferring to San Jose State University in the fall as a philosophy major.

Dual sport specialist Kate Braham took home the female scholar-athlete of the year award, maintaining a 3.94 GPA at De Anza while also devoting time to the women’s track and cross-country teams.

“I’ve been [running] since junior high, but I’ve never been a super star or anything like that,” she said. “So it’s great to be recognized for my participation in it.” Braham has travelled to Ecuador to teach art to impoverished children, and will enroll at UC Davis this fall. “I think the award helps show what a well- rounded person I am,” she said. “No matter how big or how small, I think this type of recognition is always something good to have in your background.”