Best Male AthleteRaphael McFarlane

Senior Raphael McFarlane is ending his senior year of competition strong. He earned All-America honors in the long jump at the NCAA D-I Indoor Track and Field Championships. McFarlane finished 13th in the field with a jump of 24-09.75. He had the eight-best mark by American student-athletes to become the first D-I Indoor All-American in school history.

In the championships, he won the 100 and 200 meter sprints, the long jump and received second in the triple jump.

Also for the championships, he received Big Sky Athlete of the Year honors for both indoor track and field and helped the men’s track and field team repeat as indoor champions.

McFarlane furthered his success this year by qualifying for the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., for the 2008 Olympics.

“Every day I try to give it my all until I cannot move. I appreciate the honors and I had fun this year with my team bringing home the championship trophy,” McFarlane said.

Best Female AthletesMelissa Genovese

Senior gymnast Melissa Genovese competed in her second season as an all-arounder and third season as co-captain on the team. She tied her best and tied the school record of 9.925 on the beam, just to smother it the following week and now holds the best score in school history on the beam with a score of 9.950.

Genovese has won or tied seven of the 11 regular-season meets beam titles. She finished second on the beam and third in the all-around at the Western Athletic Conference Championships. She tied for eighth on the beam and finished sixth in the all-around during the NCAA Regional and was named an alternate for the NCAA Championships in the all-around category.

Genovese averaged a 9.706 on beam (highest 9.950). She averaged a 9.938 on the floor (highest 9.90). On the bars, she averaged a 9.480 (highest 9.850). On vault, she averaged a 9.546 (highest 9.650). For all-around, she averaged a 38.334 (39.175).

Jamie Schloredt

The junior catcher Jamie Schloredt has won three Pacific Coast Softball Conference Player of the Week awards this semester on top of breaking six Sacramento State softball school records, and still counting since the season has extended into the postseason for the first time in 13 years.

She holds four career records and two single-season records. Her career records include: home runs (25), RBI (112), batting average (.369) and walks (75). Her single-single records include: home runs (12) and walks (33).

Schloredt is atop the Hornet players with a .412 batting average, 148 at-bats, 34 runs, 61 hits (10 doubles, two triples and 12 home runs), a .750 slugging percentage, a .512 on base percentage (as she is the only Sac State player above .500 this season) and on defense, she has a fielding percentage of .996.

Best Male Team Leader: Anton Stryhas

Sophomore tennis player Anton Stryhas just completed his first season as a captain and based on the success of the team, it appears he has two more years of captaincy remaining.

He was named the Big Sky Most Valuable Player and was also selected for first team all-league honors.

The Belarus native had a 22-1 record, possibly the best in school history and teamed with freshman Kiryl Harbatsiuk to go 18-4 in doubles play.

On a roster with a complete turnover, he was the lone returnee from the 2006-07 squad.

The Hornets have a strong line of Belarusian players. Stryhas, the No. 1 player, serves as a great example to his younger teammates Harbatsiuk and freshman Artur Klimenka.

Stryhas led the team statistically in the most important category – wins. After he won his matches, he could be seen rooting on teammates still playing.

A team revamped with nearly all news players still won the Big Sky regular season title and made it the Big Sky tournament final.

This shows Stryhas’ strong leadership abilities as the team returned to the finals another year, even though there were no players with tournament experience.

Best Female Team Leader: Joyce Martinez Gutierrez

In her second year as a team captain, Joyce Martinez Gutierrez helped lead the women’s tennis team to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh straight season.

She had a 17-9 record in singles and a 7-10 record in doubles while teaming with freshman Melissa Valenzuela and juniors Luba Schifris and Karina Jarlkaganova.

Martinez earned honorable mention recognition to the all-league team this season.

Her variety of pairings in doubles play exhibits her chemistry with teammates, as she combined for wins with all of them.

Near the end of the season, Martinez suffered a hand injury but played through it and into the playoffs.

In the Big Sky Conference Tournament, she won both of her singles matches and led the team to a seventh straight league title.

Her vocal leadership is one of her best attributes as a captain because she gets her team going with chants.

On a roster without any seniors, it is important to have strong leadership from the younger players and Martinez has provided that since she was a freshman, so this year was no challenge for her.

Best Recruited Male Athlete: Vinnie McGhee

Vinnie McGhee Jr. made an immediate impact for the basketball team, playing in every game for the Hornets during the season as a true freshman.

After leading the basketball squad from Oakland’s McClymonds High School to a California D-I championship as a senior, he started every game at Sac State after the season opener and averaged 12.1 points, 5.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game. He also shot 37 percent from three-point range and 71.4 percent from the free throw line.

After finishing the season second in the Big Sky Conference in assists and fifth in steals, he was an honorable mention for the all-conference team and was unanimously selected as the Big Sky men’s basketball Freshman of the Year.

Collegehoops.net named him as one of 10 athletes on its national Mid-Major All-Freshman team.

Best Recruited Female Athlete: Alycia Chan

Freshman Alycia Chan from Abbotsford Twisters Gymnastics Club in British Columbia began competing in three events for the Hornets: vault, beam and floor.

Chan has won four of the 11 regular season vault titles and one floor title. Three of her non-title vaults were in the top three, one second-place finish and two third-place finishes. She tied for fourth on the vault and tied for sixth on the floor in the Western Athletic Conference Championships, and also tied for sixth on the vault at the NCAA regional.

Chan averaged a 9.658 on the vault and hit a high of 9.875. On floor, she averaged a 9.560 and her best was a 9.850, which she hit twice. On the beam, she averaged a 9.623 and her best was a 9.80, which she hit twice.

The State Hornet Sports Department can be reached at [email protected]