LA VERNE, Calif. — The University of La Verne celebrated 53 seniors at the annual Senior Blanket Awards ceremony, hosted at Sierra La Verne Country Club.
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.
Jakob Thomas was named the Anthony P. Scafani award winner as La Verne's top male athlete and Catalina Lee Kim was named the Jesse Iles Scafani winner at the Leopards' top female athlete.
Thomas had a prolific career as a member of the La Verne baseball team. Thomas is a three-time First Team All-SCIAC selection and two-time All-West Region selection. He's totaled 146 RBI, 192 hits, 22 home runs, 15 triples and 43 doubles, and capped off his time as a Leopards with a SCIAC Regular-Season Championship this year.
Lee Kim boasted a fantastic career as a member of the La Verne women's track and field team. She is a four-time All-SCIAC athlete, three-time All-West Region selection, a SCIAC Champion in the triple jump, and an NCAA qualifier. She also excelled in the classroom earning Academic All-SCIAC honors. She continually broke her own program record in the 100m hurdles and currently holds the record with a time of 14.34 seconds.
Mary Hanna and Vincent Hebble were tabbed La Verne Scholar-Athletes of the Year.
Hanna, a member of the La Verne women's swimming and diving team, earned a perfect 4.0 GPA in the fall and attained a cumulative GPA of 3.93. At the 2018 SCIAC Swimming and Diving Championships, the final meet of her career, she set the La Verne record in the 200 meter individual medley with a time of 2:11.84. She graduated with a degree in kinesiology.
Hebble ended the 2017 fall semester with a perfect 4.0 GPA and cumulatively earned a near perfect 3.97 GPA. As a member of the La Verne football team, he contributed to his squad both on and off the field and will join the Leopards' staff next season as an assistant coach.
Jessica Hernandez and Thomas were named La Verne Strength Athletes of the Year.
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