April 24, 2018
@UNLVAthletics
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - John Oda and Sophie Cortes topped the Rebels recognized at the 33rd Annual UNLV Scholar-Athlete Honors Banquet, which was held at the MGM Grand Conference Center Monday night.
Oda, from the men's golf program, was named UNLV's Male Mehdi Bouras Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while Cortes, a member of the women's soccer team, earned the Female Mehdi Bouras Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.
Oda, from Honolulu, Hawaii, was the 2017 Mountain West Men's Golfer of the Year and led the Rebels to an Elite Eight finish at last year's NCAA Championship. He was the program's first First Team All-America recipient since Ryan Moore in 2005. An economics major with a 3.62 cumulative grade point average, he was named an All-America Scholar in addition to earning the MW Scholar-Athlete award. He turned pro last fall and is currently competing on the Web.com Tour. He qualified for the U.S. Open last June and recently earned another PGA Tour start when he qualified for the Waste Management Open.
Cortes, from Newhall, California, is the third straight winner of the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award to come from women's soccer. She is a two-time First Team All-MW selection, scoring 32 points on 12 goals and eight assists last season. A member of the winningest senior class in program history, she was honored by Top Drawer Soccer as one of the top 100 women's collegiate players in the country. Academically, she has a 3.46 GPA and has been named to the Dean's Honors List four times. She was also named to the United Soccer Coaches Scholar West All-Region First Team and to its All-America Second Team. She is on track to graduate with honors with her degree in hospitality management this spring.
A total of 139 student-athletes were honored at the event for earning academic all-conference honors by achieving GPAs of 3.0 or higher in the Mountain West and the Western Athletic Conference (only men's soccer and men's swimming & diving compete in the WAC), while 46 student-athletes were recognized for being named to the MW's Scholar-Athlete Award list for having a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or greater in at least two semesters at UNLV.
Additional recognition included 34 individuals honored as members of the Rebel Top 10 for attaining a GPA placing them in the top-10 percent of all student-athletes at UNLV. The award is based on cumulative GPA's of all student-athletes who have completed at least two semesters at UNLV.
Other awards included: the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Leadership Award (women's basketball's Alyssa Anderson), Academic Career Breakthrough Awards (football's Devonte Boyd and women's basketball's Simone Sheppard) and the Student-Athlete Academic Services Choice Awards (baseball's Nick Rodriguez and cheer's Gabriela Mcnitzky).
Also announced at the banquet were the Student-Athlete Academic Champions awards, which are given to each sport's most well-rounded leaders that demonstrate great academic achievement in addition to maintaining a productive role in their respective sport. Athletic Academic Advisers select each sport's academic champion based off the following criteria: GPA, degree path, credit load, academic class standing, contribution to their sport, community service and character.
2017-18 UNLV Student-Athlete Academic Champions
Baseball - Garrett Poole
Men's Basketball - Cheickna Dembele
Women's Basketball - Alyssa Anderson
Cross County - Lindy Eskin
Cheer - Martha Hall
Dance - Ashley Schobert
Football - J'Ondray Sanders
Men's Golf - Shintaro Ban
Women's Golf - Shannon Oh
Softball - Abigail Howard
Men's Soccer - Enrique Adame
Women's Soccer - Isabella Myers
Men's Swimming & Diving - Ethan Klein
Women's Swimming & Diving - Ida Schutt
Men's Tennis - Courtney Lock
Women's Tennis - Aiwen Zhu
Track & Field - Stella Clemens
Volleyball - Elsa Descamps
