May 11, 2010
LOS ANGELES - The 2009-10 basketball season might not have ended with LMU standing on a podium accepting a trophy but that doesn't mean the Lions didn't take home awards this past season. With the end of the academic year, several women's basketball players were honored at the team, conference, and institutional level, drawing to a close a successful season on and off the court.
Several Lions reached personal milestones throughout the season, starting with junior Renahy Young, who became the 11th player in school history to score 1,000 career points, reaching the mark at San Francisco on January 14. Young finished her junior year with 1,217 points, fifth on the LMU career list. Also in the scoring category, sophomore Alex Cowling shattered the school's single-season scoring mark, pouring in 526 points to top the previous record of 492 set by Kate Murray in 2003-04. Cowling also set the single-season record of most field goals made and enters her junior year next season needing just 73 points to join Young in the 1,000-point club. Lastly, senior Lisa Helmers capped her career by becoming the school's all-time leader in three-pointers made, sinking four in the final game against Pepperdine to pass Amanda Patton (2004-07) with 156.
At the conference level, Cowling earned First Team All-West Coast Conference honors after leading the league in scoring while Young was included on the Honorable Mention list. Helmers and fellow senior Kavita Goss were both awarded Winter Academic All-WCC recognition.
On April 10, the women's basketball team held its annual awards banquet. Cowling was given the "X Factor" Award while Young was named Best Defender. Other awards went to Maggie Burkett for Most Improved and Lauren Wilkins for Hustle Award, and Helmers and Goss shared the Lion P.R.I.D.E. award, recognizing the players that most personify the characteristics of Perseverance, Respect, Intensity, Desire, and Enthusiasm. In addition, Patton was named the team's Fan of the Year.
On April 22, junior
Jessica Vargas earned perhaps the greatest achievement as she was named the Loyola Marymount University Scholar of the Year at the 98th Annual Academic Awards Convocation. Vargas has possibly accomplished more off the playing field than any athlete in LMU history. A 4.0 student with a Biochemistry major, Vargas is a member of the Chemistry Society and has been on the Dean's List each of her seven semesters at LMU. She has earned National Scholar-Athlete honors in each of the last three years and WCC Scholar-Athlete status in 2008-09. She has won the top GPA award in athletics in each of the past three years. Since her sophomore year, she has participated in undergraduate research in synthetic organic chemistry with Dr. Tina Choe and in 2009, she advanced further than any student in LMU history, athlete or otherwise, in the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship application process, making it to the final interview round.
The Scholar of the Year award goes to the senior chosen from the College and School Scholars who entered the university as a first-year student and has acheived the highest grade point average and the most outstanding academic record of the class of 2010. This is the most prestigious academic honor awarded to an undergraduate by the university.
Vargas also ended up taking home three other awards at the Academic Awards Convocation, in addition to Scholar of the Year. She also received the Jerome J. Korth Science and Engineering Core Award for the highest grade point average in core science classes, the Program Scholar in Biochemistry for overall GPA for the biochemistry major, and the Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering, Mathematics College Scholar for the highest GPA in her college.
On April 23, Vargas added to her hardware with the Sr. Raymunde McKay, R.S.H.M. Award at the Student Service Award ceremony. The award is presented to graduating seniors in recognition of their outstanding leadership throughout their undergraduate careers.
"Jessica came to LMU in hopes of achieving greatness. -this award says it all about jessica's commitment towards greatness. She is a very special and talented young woman. We look forward to working with Jessica in her 5th year next season."
The LMU athletics department handed out its yearly awards on Monday, April 26 with the 5th Annual Iggy Awards at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott. Cowling was a candidate for the Female Athlete of the Year, Burkett for Female Most Improved, and Helmers for Student-Athlete of the Year.
Lastly, on May 8, five Lions achieved the ultimate goal of earning their Bachelor degrees at the Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony. Burkett,
Aleyse Evans, Goss, Helmers, and Vargas were among the 60 LMU student-athletes who can now add "college graduate" to their resumes.
- GO LIONS -