POMONA, Calif. — A record total of 77 University of La Verne senior student-athletes were honored at the 2017 Senior Blanket Awards on Tuesday evening at the Mountain Meadows Golf Course in Pomona.
A time-honored La Verne athletics tradition, the ceremony celebrates eligible seniors who've been at La Verne for at least three years or earned postseason awards as Leopards.
Andrew Carrasco of track and field and football was named the Anthony P. Scafani Sportsman of the the Year Award as the top senior male athlete. Kelsi Robinson of volleyball and Alexis Schiff of softball were co-winners of the Jesse Iles Scafani Sportswoman of the Year Award
Carrasco has been one of the most dominant athletes in the SCIAC over the last four years across all sports.
He won the SCIAC championship in the hammer throw each of the last three seasons and hasn't lost the event in any SCIAC meet the past three years. He is undefeated in the event this season.
He claimed All-America status in hammer throw at the 2016 national championships and is a strong contender for the gold medal this year.
He has broken the school record in the event many times over and the record currently sits at 192 feet and an inch.
Carrasco has also been an solid contributor on the football team playing mostly as a defensive lineman and helped the Leopards win the SCIAC football championship in 2015.
Robinson enjoyed the best season of her career and cemented herself as one of the best middle blockers in the nation as a senior.
This season, she was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III Third Team All-America and was named the 2016 SCIAC Volleyball Athlete of the Year.
She was instrumental in leading the Leopards to the NCAA National Championship tournaments in 2014 and 2016. She also earned two All-West Region honors in her career and has been selected to First Team All-SCIAC each of the last three seasons.
Alexis Schiff has gotten better every year since she stepped on campus and emerged as one of the most feared hitters in the nation this season.
She was just named the 2017 SCIAC Softball Athlete of the Year after leading the Leopards to back-to-back conference championships and leading the SCIAC in seven offensive stat categories.
She currently ranks fourth in the entire nation in home runs with 15 and led the SCIAC in seven offensive categories.
She has been selected First Team All-SCIAC each of the past three seasons and was named to Second Team as a freshman.
Behind Schiff, the Leopards punched their ticket to the NCAA National Championship tournament with a SCIAC Postseason Tournament title and will travel to Tyler, Texas, this weekend to open postseason play.
Schiff was also tabbed La Verne's Female Scholar Athlete of the Year while Ashton Edior of baseball was named the Male Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Schiff is a Business major who has achieved an overall GPA of 3.93 and earned Academic All-SCIAC honors every year she has been eligible.
Edior, a Kinesiology major, earned a perfect 4.0 GPA in the fall and sports an overall GPA of 3.92. Like Schiff, Edior was named to the Academic All-SCIAC Team every year he's been eligible.
He's been a steady contributor and leader on the baseball team over the last four years. Ashton's also been one of the most valuable student-workers for our athletic department, doing everything from preparing fields to keeping scores.
