Top athletes honored at awards banquet
Seniors Eleanna Mendez (soccer) and Gabby Pecora (women's volleyball, women's golf) were named co-winners as Dominican Female Student-Athlete of the Year while sophomore Pedro Guevara (men's soccer) was selected Dominican Male Athlete of the Year at the Penguins' season-ending Athletics Awards Banquet in the Shield Room on Saturday, May 1.

In Dominican's first season in NCAA Division II, Mendez, out of Windsor High, was named second team All Pacific West Conference while Justin-Siena High's Pecora, who led the Penguins in kills and digs, was honorable mention All-PacWest. Mendez was Dominican's Female Student-Athlete of the Year as a junior last season and Pecora also was Dominican's Female Student-Athlete of the Year, two years ago as a sophomore. In his sophomore campaign, Guevara led the Penguins in goals, assists, and total points. The 5-foot-5 midfielder had three game-winning goals and garnered second team All-PacWest honors.

Guevara's teammate, senior Esera Vegas,  was named the recipient of Dominican's Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for the highest GPA. He is a biology major from Kaneohe, Hawaii. Christine Coleman of the women's soccer team was the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year award winner. She is a junior nursing major from Clayton High School.

Men's  Lacrosse
The young Penguins gained experience and maturity and finished strong in their debut season in NCAA Division II. They won three of their last five games and the two losses were by only one goal. Freshman Jim Little led Dominican in goals, assists and total points. In fact, the top eight scorers for the Penguins this season were either freshmen or sophomores.

Women's Softball
The top two pitchers in the Penguins this season were both underclassmen: sophomore Jessi Saaty led the team in complete games and freshman Alisha McKnight recorded the most strikeouts. Junior Robyn Ridpath topped the Lady Penguins in virtually every offensive category except total hits. Freshman Molly Howard tied her with 22.

Women's Tennis
The doubles team of junior Anh Truong and freshman Jessica Curlett won the most games for the Lady Penguins in a season-ending loss to Hawaii-Hilo at the PacWest championships in Glendale, Ariz. Seniors Stephanie Lemp and Michele Freitas won the most singles matches this season for Dominican.

Men's and Women's Golf
Junior Ashley Rubin was only one stroke behind teammate Kari Young, a sophomore, after the first nine holes of the Sonoma State Women's Spring Invitational at Fountaingrove, but Young pulled away to post the low score for the Dominican women with an 86 in the final 18 holes in the season-ending two-day tournament. Freshman Kamila Sulkowski shaved six strokes off her first-round score on the second day.  The men's highlights included freshman Dan Willsen, who improved his score each round of the Stanislaus Invitational at the Turlock Country Club and sophomore Sean Nadir, who carded an opening-round 74 at the PacWest championships in Honolulu


PENGUIN PROFILES
Kari Young - In her final round of the season, the 5-foot-5 sophomore out of Richmond's Salesian High School , the most consistent player on the Penguins' women's golf team this spring, improved her score by eight strokes from the first day to the last day of the Sonoma State University Women's Spring Invitational in Santa Rosa.

Joey Sullivan - The 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior defender from Granite Bay played his final game as team captain for the Penguins, leading them to a season-ending 17-11 victory over former NAIA rival Westminster College to claim Dominican's first-ever Baggataway Tournament Cup on the Penguins' home turf on Senior Day.