The athletics department hosted the annual San Francisco State University Athletes Banquet on May 13 in Annex I to celebrate the school’s student-athletes and their achievements.
The event was organized by the staff of Gator Athletics with the assistance of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and a voting committee responsible for all the awards.
Jamil Sheared, the gameday management coordinator, was the master of ceremonies and announced the awards for student-athletes. Other speakers included Jamillah Moore, SFSU vice president of student affairs and enrollment management, Kimberly DeBoer, president of the SAAC, and Stephanie Shrieve-Hawkins, SFSU’s director of athletics.
“It’s my absolute favorite event of the year,” Shrieve-Hawkins said. “We just get to celebrate what the student-athletes have been working on all year and to have them all in the same room at the same time is really a special time.”
This banquet came at a time close to other events with the baseball team competing in West Regionals in Monterey on Thursday.
“Right now, it’s so exciting. And last weekend, baseball was so close to that conference championship, but the beauty of it is they’ve been that successful all season that they put themselves in the regional standings,” Shrieve-Hawkins said. “They can continue and then maybe go on to beat Monterey Bay, who we lost to in the championship.”
The excitement doesn’t end there. Macaria Moore-Bastide of the women’s track and field team is competing in Outdoor Nationals in Emporia, Kansas on May 25.
“This season was pretty darn good honestly. I wanted to continue the energy from my freshman year because I did have a really good freshman year,” Moore-Bastide said. “Thankfully, I’m not injured this time so I’m gonna go into outdoor nationals and I’m gonna place for sure.”
Moore-Bastide was named the SFSU female student-athlete of the year. Basil Othman of the wrestling team was named the male student-athlete of the year.
“It really came down to the day-to-day choices I was making,” Othman said. “For me, that was either 10 to 15 minutes on the air bike after practice when I’m already super tired, seven minutes of stance and motion drilling after practice, or even a cold shower or ice bath.”
Othman mentioned prayer and his faith in God as a huge part of his success. Bible study every Wednesday was a place where he felt supported.
“That was probably the biggest rock that kept me afloat during tough times,” Othman said. “It’s pretty uncommon for guys to have men’s groups like that, and I think from a mental perspective alone, that does great things to yourself.”
Matte Cecilio, a women’s track and field athlete earned the Arete Award. This award is given to a student-athlete who earned a 3.0 or higher grade point average, completed an average of 12 units per semester, performed community service and also succeeded in their sport.
The California Collegiate Athletic Association Hal Charnofsky Award recognizes student-athletes who distinguish themselves in the classroom and in their sports. Volleyball athlete Trinity Yates won on the women’s side, while men’s basketball athlete Jonah Roth won on the men’s side.
Sanaia Woods of track and field won Newcomer of the Year on the women’s side, while Justin Johnson of baseball won on the men’s side. Aidan Goodrich of volleyball won Freshman of the Year on the women’s side, while Jacob French of baseball won on the men’s side.
It was a successful year for student-athletes on and off the field, as many of them succeeded with their learning in classes as well.
“I could not be more proud, there’s just amazing leadership,” Shrieve-Hawkins said. “In the classroom, we have an average of a 3.2 GPA among all of our student-athletes and every team is at a 3.0 or higher, so it’s remarkable.”
