James Salazar
Staff Writer
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic canceled the spring portion of sports on the Hilltop, and as a result, some senior athletes didn’t get to take their final bow on their home turf.
To honor those who did not get to play out their final season at USF, the Foghorn has decided to use our last issue of the semester to recognize the student-athletes of the graduating class of 2020.
Men’s basketball
This past season saw senior Jimbo Lull and redshirt senior Charles Minlend earn All-West Coast Conference (WCC) honors. In addition to this, guard Jordan Ratinho and forward Remu Raitanen both earned WCC All-Academic first team honors.
Women’s basketball
Senior guard Rojeen Sharifi earned WCC All-Academic honorable mentions while graduate student forward Mikayla Williams earned All-WCC second team honors, as well as WCC Co-Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 16, 2019. Dolapo Balogun, a graduate student forward, had a banner year which included playing in all 31 games, with 14 starts and a career-high 35 assists and 21 steals.
Baseball
Seniors Riki Urata, Riley Ornido, Matthew Mendibles, Grant Nechak, Grant Young, Chase Hodkinson, and Jacob Munoz, as well as redshirt seniors Jacob Westerman, Robert Emery, and Landen Bourassa, made their bats come alive for 17 games. Highlights from the Diamond Dons’ abbreviated season include Bourassa returning from a year-long injury to throw five shutout innings in a 4-1 win over UC Berkeley and, for the second year in a row, Emery being named to the Buster Posey Award Watch List, an award given to the top NCAA Division I catcher in the nation.
Women’s beach volleyball
The 2020 season saw senior Shannon Levinson and graduate student Lauren Speckman take their final digs at one of USF’s latest athletic additions.
Men’s and women’s golf
Senior Tim Widing earned Ping All-West Region Team honors while Christopher Adnams recorded a tournament appearance in the Saint Mary’s Invitational, recording seven birdies in the process. On the women’s side, Samantha Gong played in all seven tournaments of the Dons’ shortened season, tying for the team lead with two top-10 finishes. Carley Hopton did not see any action, so she utilized her redshirt season.
Men’s and women’s tennis
Being a constant in the men’s lineup, Paul Giraud’s highlights include receiving the WCC’s Men’s Tennis Doubles Team of the Week award for the week of Feb. 18 with his partner, Ori Maior. Emily Maxfield earned herself two appearances in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Singles rankings while Amber Del Rosario continued building off a 6-5 junior season.
Men’s and women’s track and field
The season showed bursts of top-10 finishes as well as highlight-reel worthy performances from seniors Gabriella Mace, Julija Praprotnik, Josien Scheepens, and Hugh Nickalson, as well as graduate students Elissa Mann, Aoibhe Richardson, Anna Tait, Andy Snyder, and Sam Stevens. Richardson made history as she became the first-ever woman from USF to qualify for the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships.
