Briefs: Four Pirates lauded

Freshman outside hitter Adrian Faitalia and sophomore middle blocker Nick Amado led four Orange Coast College players named All-Pacific Coast Conference by garnering first-team recognition.

Sophomore setter Steven Duhoux was a second-team honoree, while freshman Alec Podrasky was a third-team pick.

Faitalia, a 6-foot-3 native of Hawaii, led the Pirates (16-6) with 320 kills, 69 digs and 38 blocks.

The 6-6 Amado had 258 kills, a team-high 22 aces and a team-best 108 total blocks.

Duhoux, a transfer from Irvine Valley, had 772 assists. He added 27 kills, 105 digs and 53 total blocks.

Podrasky, a libero out of Wisconsin, led the team with 227 digs, the fourth-best single-season total in OCC annals.

— From staff reports

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VU’s Boggs honored

Vanguard University senior Brittany Boggs was named Academic All-American and Academic All-District in 2015.

The first baseman, a three-time All-Golden State Athletic Conference performer, led the Lions with a .389 batting average, 79 hits and 56 runs batted in. She had 16 doubles, three triples, 44 runs and a .571 slugging percentage to help Vanguard finish 37-22.

The kinesiology major posted a 3.66 grade-point average.

— From staff reports

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UCI’s Skinner tabbed

Matt Skinner, who will be a sophomore for the UC Irvine men’s water polo team next fall, has been named to the Australian roster for this summer’s World University Games.

Skinner is one of 13 members selected for the Australian team that will compete in the 28th Summer Universiade, July 3-14 in Gwangju, South Korea.

Skinner received honorable mention in All-American voting as a freshman for the ‘Eaters in 2014, when he scored 49 goals, the 11th-best total in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

UCI Coach Marc Hunt was a co-captain for the gold-medal winning USA team at the 1993 World University Games and he also competed in the 1995 Games.

— From staff reports

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Cooper All-American

Corona del Mar High product Ken Cooper, a senior at MIT, earned All-American honors by finishing fifth in the hammer throw at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. on May 22.

Cooper’s throw of 195 feet was a career-best. He also finished 19th in the discus throw (146-9) at the Division III nationals, and previously helped MIT win the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference and New England Division III titles.

The top eight finishers in each event earn All-American status.

As a junior, Cooper was named the NEWMAC Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year, and finished 10th in the shot put (53-5 1/2), 12th in the discus (160-6) and 20th in the hammer throw (165-7) at the 2014 outdoor nationals.

Also in 2014, Cooper won the shot put and discus at the Eastern College Athletic Conference championships.

He was second at the ECAC championships in the discus (163-1) earlier this season.

— From staff reports

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UCI teams lauded

Four UC Irvine teams have earned Public Recognition Awards from the NCAA based on their Academic Progress Rates.

The UCI women’s cross country program received the award for the fifth straight year and is joined by women’s volleyball, and men’s and women’s tennis, with their scores ranking in the top-10% for the 2013-14 academic year.

The APR is an annual scorecard of academic achievement calculated for all Division I sports teams nationally. The scores required to be in the top 10 ranged from 980 to a perfect 1,000, depending on the sport, with the majority of top-10 teams earning a perfect APR.

More than 1,100 Division I sports teams were recognized this year by the NCAA for top scores in the classroom. The 1,124 teams publicly recognized for high achievement represent 696 women’s teams and 428 men’s or mixed squads. In 2014, 1,049 teams were recognized, marking an increase this year of 75 teams.

UCI’s 18 teams had an average APR score of 984 in 2013-14, with the four Anteater teams receiving public recognition earning perfect scores of 1,000. None of the Anteater teams are below the threshold score of 930 that can lead to penalties.

The APR measures eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or quarter, and provides a clear picture of the academic performance for each team in each sport.

The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on scores from 2010-11, 2011-2012, 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years.

“We congratulate each of the teams and individual student-athletes for their dedication to academic success,” said NCAA President Mark Emmert in a national media release. “This achievement demonstrates their hard work and the commitment of NCAA member schools to provide students with an opportunity to succeed academically and athletically.”

In addition, 151 student-athletes are UCI Scholar-Athletes this year, raising the total to 4,040 since 1983.

— From staff reports