April 1, 2004

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - A total of ten UC Santa Barbara student-athletes in the sports of women's basketball and men's and women's swimming earned All-Academic recognition from the Big West Conference, the league announced Thursday.

To be eligible for the conference's all-academic team, student-athletes must maintain a 3.2 cumulative GPA, have attained sophomore standing academically and competed in at least 50 percent of their team's contests.

Earning Big West All-Academic recognition for a third straight season was women's basketball senior swing player Lisa Willett, who recently completed her UCSB career playing in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The Santa Barbara, Calif., native is pursuing a degree in religious studies. Joining Willett were junior post player Kate Bauman (Prior Lake, Minn.) - an English major - and senior guard April McDivitt (Connersville, Ind.), who is pursuing a degree in psychology. On the court, McDivitt was an honorable mention All-Big West recipient.

In men's swimming, junior Scott Baer (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and sophomores T.K. Erwin (Fountain Valley, Calif.), Grant Hurst (Bakersfield, Calif.) and Garrett Porteous (Danville, Calif.) and all earned spots on the Big West All-Academic squad. Baer - who earned his second straight award - is majoring in mechanical engineering, while the three sophomores are all undeclared.

On the women's side, juniors Becky Glusac (San Antonio, Texas) and Jennifer Moeckel (Stockton, Calif.) were both recognized by the conference for their diligence in the classroom for a second consecutive year. Glusac is pursuing her degree in environmental sciences, while Moeckel is a law and society major. Also earning Big West All-Academic acclaim was sophomore Lauren Moskovitz (Sebastopol, Calif.), who has yet to declare a major.

For the complete list of Big West All-Academic honorees, visit www.bigwest.org.