May 2, 2011
LOS ANGELES - LMU's women's soccer team has been busy during the awards season at the end of the 2010-11 academic year, bringing home a team honor as well as several individual awards. On Friday, April 15, junior Jaide Garcia and sophomore Kimiko Miyashima were honored with campus service awards while the 6th Annual Iggy Awards held on Monday, April 25 saw freshman Tawni Martino and the entire women's team take home athletics department awards. Former Lion and current LMU professor Karie Huchting was also honored with an Advisor of the Year award.
At the Student Service and Leadership Awards ceremony on April 15, Miyashima (Sandy, Utah) was one of eight campus-wide recipients of the Dr. Renee L Harrangue Award, honoring the unique accomplishments of LMU's second year students for their continued involvement in campus life, service and leadership. Garcia (Lancaster, Calif.) was one of 15 student recipients of the Fr. Alfred Kilp S.J. Award, which is given to third year students who in the past year have demonstrated a high degree of service and promise for continued involvement in co-curricular leadership. In addition, Huchting, a former soccer player who earned her undergraduate degree in 2000 and her Master's degree in 2004 - both from LMU - was recognized with the Advisor of the Year Award. Huchting, who is a faculty member in the School of Education, was honored for her exemplary support with the Gryphon's Circle student group this year.
The following week, Martino (Irvine, Calif.) was named the LMU Female Freshman Athlete of the Year and was a candidate for the Female Athlete of the Year honor. Additionally, the entire team was recognized for its efforts in the weight room with the Strength and Conditioning Team of the Year Award.
Miyashima and Garcia have lived and breathed the mission of Loyola Marymount University: the encouragement of learning, the education of the whole person, and the service of faith and the promotion of justice. Below are a list of their campus service and involvements:
Miyashima Belles Service Organization: - Peer Board member
- 30 hours of service per semester at the following sites:
- LANGE (a pet shelter)
- Inglewood Public Library (tutoring children)
- SAGE at Nickerson Gardens (an after-school mentoring program in Watts)
- Marycrest Manor (a short-term and long-term skilled nursing facility)
- Bread and Roses (a cafe that feeds the homeless)
- Good Shepherd (a home for women who are victims of domestic violence/abuse)
LMU Athletics:
- SAM - Student Athlete Mentor
- Voted LMU Women's Soccer Most Inspirational Player for 2010
Loyola Marymount University Theatre Productions:
- "The Club": campus production in which Miyashima sang, tap danced, and played the violin
Extra-curricular:
- Member of Amnesty International
- Orientation Leader for summer 2011
Garcia Clubs: Invisible Children Club (founder of club that is raising awareness of abducted children from Northern Uganda who have been forced to fight in a 27-year long rebel war throughout the Congo and Central African Republic)
Revolution Bible Study
Global Exchange (fundraising to travel to Cambodia to aid a small village with medical supplies)
Jumpstart Program (visited an elementary school once a week to help students learn how to read)
Downtown Women's Center (volunteering on Los Angeles Skid Row)
Haiti Earthquake Relief (11-day trip last summer to help kids in the aftermath of the earthquake)
LMU Athletics:
- SAAC E-board Secretary
- Kentwood Elementary School Beautification
- Dockwiler Beach Clean-up
- Soles for Souls Shoe Drive
- LMU Women's Soccer - 2011 team captain
- GO LIONS -
