Mesa's Joshua Denz is state

Scholar Athlete of the Year

ONTARIO, CA -- San Diego Mesa College's Joshua Denz will be recognized as the California Community College Commission on Athletics / California Community College Athletic Association Men's State Scholar Athlete of the Year on Wednesday, March 31, at the Celebration of Student Athletes Luncheon at the Doubletree Ontario Airport Hotel in Ontario, California.

The luncheon / award presentation will be one of the highlights of the 13th Annual CCCAA Convention. The CCCAA is the governing body for more than 27,000 athletes in the 2.5-million-student California Community College system, the largest educational system in the world.

Denz, a native of Green Bay, Wisconsin, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and a 4.0 student at Mesa, was a member of the 2008-09 Olympian water polo and swimming teams, the former playing the driver position. The Kinesiology major also is an avid long-distance runner (see photo) 

Denz' future plans: a career in Sports Psychology.

Denz' motto on his My Space page: "You can make a difference."

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Chet DeVore Trophy to

honor PCAC's top program

SAN DIEGO -- The annual award that will honor the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference's outstanding athletic program of the year will carry the name of the conference's founding Commissioner, the highly-respected Chester S. DeVore.

The Chet DeVore Trophy will be awarded for the first time next October, honoring the conference's most successful college for the 2009-10 academic year as determined by a point system that will involve end-of-year conference award winners and colleges' finishes on the conference and state levels.

In his youth, Chet DeVore was a superb athlete himself, a three-sport letterman at Chaffey Community College (football, basketball, baseball) from 1937-39 and a member of San Diego State University's 1941 NAIA National Champion men's basketball team.

He was a combat veteran of U.S. Marine Corps in World War II, participating in the campaigns of Bouganville, Emirau, Guam and Okinawa, and was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star while attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

After the war, DeVore began a rewarding career as a teacher, counselor and coach. From 1951-55, he was one of the most successful high school football coaches in San Diego County history, guiding Chula Vista High to a 40--3 win-loss record over his last four seasons. DeVore's Spartans were 9-1 in 1952, 12-0 in 1953, 11-1 in 1954 and 8-1 in 1955.

He later was counselor and then principal at Chula Vista High and was the founding Superintendent/President of Southwestern College in 1961. He served as Southwestern's President until his retirement in 1981, as the college grew in enrollment from 1,500 students to more than 14,000. Through his strong leadership and financial guidance, he developed the academic, vocational and athletic programs that still exist today. The college named its football stadium Chet DeVore Stadium, and he remains a rabid Southwestern College fan today.

DeVore, married to the former Helen Huffer for the last 64 years and the father of John,  Janet, James and Ann, became the first Commissioner of the newly-formed Pacific Coast Conference in 1982. He served as conference Commissioner until 1998 when he retired from that post. DeVore was followed in the post by Felix Rogers and the current Commissioner, John Woods.

Current Commissioner Woods said that naming the award after Chet DeVore was, basically, a foregone conclusion:

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AROUND THE PCAC ...

ABOVE: Grossmont College's women's basketball team, which tied Palomar, the two-time defending champion, for the PCAC title. BELOW: Southwestern's conference men's champions swept undefeated through their PCAC season and were 18-0 from Dec. 6 until the regional finals on March 6, when they lost to Southern Cal No.1 seed San Bernardino Valley 80-77.

Conference teams hold

heads high on field, in class

SAN DIEGO / IMPERIAL COUNTIES -- As the Winter sports of women's and men's basketball draw to a conclusion and Spring sports are in full swing,  Pacific Coast Athletic Conference colleges have enjoyed far more than their share of success.

Ditto for conference athletes' showings in the classroom.

First things first in the PCAC, and on the academic front. San Diego Mesa aquatics athlete Joshua Denz, the COA / CCCAA Scholar Athlete of the Year for 2008-2009, will have company from the PCAC awards luncheon at the 13th Annual CCCAA Convention on March 31 in Ontario.

Denz will be joined by coach Mark Eldridge's Palomar women's golf team, the COA/CCCAA Academic Team of the Year for its sport, with a 3.29 team grade-point average.

More news from PCAC member colleges:

CUYAMACA COLLEGE -- The Coyotes, who have won a combined 14 men's and women's conference track & field championships, are off to a strong 2010 start, winning both the men's and women's titles at the Foothill Preview Meet on Feb. 26 at Antelope Valley College. Cuyamaca won six men's events, led by Keith Turner with a 48.39 in the 400 meters and Derek Harrebomee with a triple in the hammer throw, shot put and discus. The women won seven events, with Paula Saavedra leading the way with victories in the shot put and hammer throw.

GROSSMONT COLLEGE -- Howard Hawver recorded his 200th victory as Grossmont's women's soccer coach last Sept. 25 when the Griffins defeated Palomar 1-0 on a 40-yard goal by Jenna Sanders, whom he originally coached in youth soccer. Hawver, who is waging an inspirational battle against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (AGS / Lou Gehrig's disease), which he was diagnosed with in 2008, coaches from a specially outfitted wheelchair. He has a 200-58-30 record as coach of the Griffins. ... The Griffins retired former two-time team MVP and all-conference selection Kyrstin Gemar's softball number 73 prior to a game against Los Angeles Harbor on Feb. 17. Gemar and two of her Dickinson State teammates died tragically in a drowning accident on Nov. 1 when her Jeep Cherokee went into a pond on an unmarked road just outside of Dickinson, ND.

IMPERIAL VALLEY COLLEGE -- IVC inducted six new members into its Hall of Fame on Feb. 11, including the late Ron Jessie and Doug Harvey. Jessie, who passed away in 2006, was a standout in football and track & field for the Arabs in the 1960s. He went on to star in the same two sports at the University of Kansas, and played 11 seasons as a receiver in the NFL, where he was a Pro Bowl selection for the then-Los Angeles Rams and also played for the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills. He was a key performer on Kansas' national championship track team in 1969. Harvey, who will be inducted this year into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, was a Major League umpire for more than 30 years, umpiring 4,670 big-league games.

MIRACOSTA COLLEGE -- After five years as an assistant coach at Humboldt State, former Spartan Steve Kinder has been named the Lumberjacks' new head men's basketball coach. Kinder played under now-retired coach Clete Adelman at MiraCosta. ... Coach Patrick Conahan's MCC's men's basketball team advanced to the Southern California Regional Playoffs with a second-place finish in the PCAC.

MIRAMAR COLLEGE -- In only its third year of existence, Miramar's women's soccer team advanced to the Southern California Regional Playoffs. The Jets' Nicole Petracca was named Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Miramar went 16-3-1 during the regular season. ... The Jets also advanced to the Southern Cal Regionals in Men's basketball again.

PALOMAR COLLEGE -- In its second and third seasons of existence, the Comets' women's golf team won back-to-back conference championships in the Fall of both 2008 and 2009. The 2009 team won the Southern California community college championship, a fete the men's team accomplished last spring. The Comet women placed third in the CCCAA State Championships for the second straight year. ... Palomar's football team advanced to the Southern California championship game and was ranked No. 8 in the nation by the J.C. Grid-Wire of Seattle. ... The Comets won the conference championship in men's soccer,  tied Mesa for their second straight PCAC women's volleyball title and tied Grossmont for its third consecutive women's basketball crown. ...  Karl Seiler was conference Coach of the Year and Shelley Morton was Player of the Year in volleyball.  Sherri Jenum repeated as Coach of the Year in basketball, while Kiara Stinson was Player of the Year. ... At the conclusion of the 2008-09 academic year, Palomar baseball coach Buck Taylor was named PCAC Coach of the Year for men's sports. Softball / women's golf coach Mark Eldridge was conference Coach of the Year for women's sports.

SAN DIEGO CITY COLLEGE -- Mitch Charlens coached the Knights to their most successful men's basketball season since 1962-63 when they went 28-5, won the conference championship and advanced to the 2009 CCCAA State Final Eight. Charlens was selected as State Co-Coach of the Year and Malcolm Thomas, who now starts for San Diego State, was State Co-Player of  the Year. Three Knights made the all-conference first team. Eight City College players received full-ride four-year college scholarships. .. For the 2009-10 women's volleyball, women's basketball and men's basketball seasons, City College unveiled a new, state-of-the-art lighting system at Harry West Gymnasium, one of the best facilities in California.

SAN DIEGO MESA COLLEGE -- The Olympians utilized their superior depth to win the 2009 PCAC conference men's cross country title on Oct. 30 at Morley Field in Balboa Park despite not placing an individual in the top five. Running as a pack, Mesa placed runners sixth (Deng Akuiew), seventh (Justin Arnold), ninth (Ryan McMonigle, 11th (Connor Betancourt, 12th (Mason Westphall), 13th (Eric Brown) and 16th (Chris Burnham). ... The Olympians tied Palomar for the conference women's volleyball title, their fifth in the last six years. ... Mesa continued its long-standing excellence in aquatic sports, winning conference championships in men's and women's swimming in 2009 and jumping off to 2-0 starts to begin 2010. The Olympians made it to the second round of the Southern Cal women's water polo playoffs after winning the regular-season conference title ... Mesa won another PCAC women's soccer championship. ... And the Olympians opened their renovated football / track & field / soccer stadium, one of the best in community college athletics.

SOUTHWESTERN -- The Jaguars swept unbeaten at 16-0 through the PCAC in capturing the conference men's basketball championship, finished the regular season 22-4, won at Bakersfield to begin the Southern Cal playoffs and fell one game short of the state Final Eight with a heartbreaking, 80-77 loss at SoCal No. 1 seed San Bernardino Valley on March 6. The Jags went 18-0 from Dec. 2 until falling to the Wolverines. ... John Cosentino was named PCAC men's basketball Coach of the Year. His son, 6-foot-6 freshman guard Anthony Cosentino, was Player of the Year. ... Southwestern freshman Dahir Mohamed won the 2009 Mt. SAC Invitational and both conference and Southern California championships in men's cross country. He finished fifth in the state meet. ... The Jaguars won the PCAC women's cross country title behind individual champion Nadine Mulvany and second-place finisher Tanya Valenzuela.

Questions about this web site? contact Tom Saxe

Counselor's Corner:

The Importance and Value of the Academic Progress Rates

Note: Author Sean Sovacool is Coordinator of the Athletic Study Hall Program at Palomar College. An Academic All-American first-team honoree as a sophomore football player for Palomar  in 2002, Sovacool received his B.S. degree in American Political Studies from Northern Arizona University and his M.A. in Education from California State University Bakersfield..

By Sean Sovacool

Working with student-athletes on a daily basis, I am always trying different ways to get their intensity for athletics to mirror their effort in the classroom.  I am always reemphasizing the fact that they are “student-athletes,” not “athlete-students.”  Academics must always come first.  One way to relay this message is by highlighting the fact that if they are not going to be successful in the classroom then they are not going to have the “opportunity” to be an athlete.  This idea is illustrated through the use and development of Academic Progress Rates (APRs). 

There have been efforts to make sure that the potential success of student athletes in academics is being met through the use and creation of academic progress rates, or APRs.  The NCAA created APRs in 2004 as part of an academic reform package, which was designed to measure the academic success rate of student athletes.  (Bartler 2007)  The APR is a great source of accountability for not only the student-athletes but the professionals who are responsible for their athletic competitions and academic eligibility.  This rating system has helped keep the people who coach, teach, and mentor student athletes at the top of their game by focusing on the “eligibility and retention of student-athletes.” (Lucas 2007).  The APRs hold each athletic team “accountable for the success of student-athletes in the classroom and their progression towards graduation.”  (Barter 2007)  If an athletic team falls under the bench mark set by the APRs there can be very serious consequences. 

The APR score is set on a 1,000 point scale where the NCAA set a cutoff rate at 925, “roughly equivalent to an expected 50% graduation rate, as a minimum acceptable standard.”  (Lucas 2007)  A team that is caught under that rate for a specified amount of time then can eventually lose “up to 10% of their athletic scholarship allotments.” (Lucas 2007)  This fact helps motivate not only the student-athletes but the people who are responsible for the success of the student-athletes.  It makes athletes who may be moderately successful but who are also great students become more marketable to an athletic program than say a student-athlete who may be a superb athlete but a sub par student.  The APRs “as an academic reform package” have become an equalizer for student-athletes seeking scholarships and a great motivator for all people involved in athletics to help make sure that the student-athletes are being as successful as possible by “accurately measuring their academic success.” (Bartler 2007)  It is crucial for junior college athletes to understand the performance and use of APRs.  The better “student” an athlete is, the better chance they have at receiving a scholarship.            

Recruiters are going to be hesitant to take a student who has a questionable transcript marred by poor academic success even if they meet the minimal requirements for transfer.  If a coach brings in a sub-par student regardless of their athletic ability it could ultimately put the coaches’ job at risk if the student’s performance causes their APRs to drop.  If the APRs drop enough, the scholarships drop, the coach will more likely than not lose their job.  The development and use of APRs is another tool or resource that proves how valuable academic success is in the athletic arena.     

The above document appeared in Sovacool's Master's thesis. A complete list and explanation of sources are available by request.

Did You Know That? ...

FOR A PERIOD of years San Diego City College's men's basketball team annually played the Harlem Globetrotters at Bing Crosby Hall at the San Diego County Fairgrounds in Del Mar, including the 1958-59 season when the legendary Wilt Chamberlain (above) played for the Globetrotters. 

WHEN GROSSMONT defeated Palomar 68-64 on Jan. 13 in a battle of the two eventual PCAC women's basketball co-champions, the Griffins' broke the Comets' 33-game conference win streak. The last team to beat Palomar in a conference game had been Cuyamaca, 81-77 on Feb. 7, 2007.

SOUTHWESTERN College men's basketball coach John Cosentino was an outstanding community college athlete (as a starting quarterback and all-conference basketball guard) -- for San Diego Mesa.

SAN DIEGO MESA men's basketball coach Ed Helscher played for Cosentino when Cosentino coached at University of San Diego High School.

MIRACOSTA College originally was known as Oceanside-Carlsbad Junior College when it opened in 1934, and  classes were conducted in one wing of Oceanside High School until it moved to its present campus in 1964 and was re-named MiraCosta College.

ED OLSEN, who retired as Grossmont College baseball coach after 22 years following the 2003 season, sent 14 players to the Major Leagues.

COACH HARRY WEST'S 1968 San Diego City College football team halted the longest win streak in community college history, defeating Fullerton at Balboa Stadium. The Knights ended the defending J.C. Grid-Wire National Champion Hornets' streak at 47.

CURRENT Pacific Coast Athletic Conference commissioner John Woods has been inducted into three different wrestling Halls of Fame as a wrestler (at Cal Poly, where he was a collegiate All-American) and as a coach (at Palomar College).

WHEN ELVIN HAYES and the University of Houston ended Lew Alcindor's (and UCLA's) men's basketball win streak at 47 games, 71-69 in what was then known as "The Game of the Century "on Jan. 20, 1968 at the Astrodome,  the Cougars' second best player and second-leading scorer was Imperial Valley College alumnus George Reynolds. The  former Arabs star, a 6-foot-4 guard, went on to play for the Detroit Pistons.