Monday, August 31, 1998
Sports Briefs
Women’s hoops gets No. 5 ranking
The Women’s Basketball News Service has selected the UCLA
women’s basketball team No. 5 in the nation in their preseason
poll.
The Bruins are coming off of a 20-9 season in which they
advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
They lost, however, on a questionable call by referees in
Alabama but are looking forward to this season with high
expectations.
Forward Maylana Martin and point guard Erica Gomez, who are both
juniors, were selected preseason All-Americans by the News Service.
Martin was named to the first team and Gomez to the third.
Freshman guard Michelle Greco received preseason All-Freshman
honors.
Three Bruins earn NCAA scholarships
Three Bruins were among the 174 recipients of NCAA postgraduate
scholarships, each worth $5,000.
Josh Keller, Josh Johnson and Nada Kawar received the awards,
given annually to student-athletes who excel in both the classroom
and the field.
The winners of the award must also be in their last year of
intercollegiate athletics.
The three winners this year boosted UCLA’s postgraduate
scholarship total to 48 overall.
Keller was the captain of the 1997 men’s soccer team and was
drafted in the first round of the Major League Soccer collegiate
draft.
Keller has plans to pursue a master’s degree in business
administration.
Johnson, a three-time All-American, is one of the top javelin
throwers in the nation.
He plans to study management and entreprenuership in graduate
school.
Kawar, a 1996 Olympian, became UCLA’s second women’s track and
field postgraduate scholarship recipient.
She was a five-time All-American as well as first-team Academic
All-American in 1998.
She will attend medical school.
Men’s soccer starts season at No. 1
Defending NCAA men’s soccer champion UCLA was voted pre-season
No. 1 by Soccer America Magazine. The Bruins also earned the No. 1
ranking from the NSCAA/Umbro poll.
Soccer America also selected four Bruins in its pre-season
All-American list.
Sophomore defender Carlos Bocanegra (Alta Loma, Calif.), junior
midfielder Sasha Victorine (Corona, Calif.) and senior Seth George
(Mission Viejo, Calif.) earned first team honors.
Junior midfielder Pete Vagenas (Pasadena, Calif.) also earned
acclaim by being selected to the second team.
The team opened the season with an impressive 2-0 victory over
Cal State Northridge.