Cal Lutheran athletes making the grade

It started in a little room in the humanities building. It eventually moved to the Lundring Events Center, where everyone assumed it would remain for many years.

But the numbers just kept increasing, so this year's Cal Lutheran Scholar-Athlete Society induction banquet had to be held in the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center.

A record-high 116 athletes were honored last Saturday for having a cumulative GPA of at least 3.4. The standard far exceeds the 2.0 needed to be eligible to compete in athletics.

"To me that is the whole Division III philosophy of being a student and a top athlete," CLU Athletic Director Dan Kuntz said. "Our mission is to help them do well in school and do well in their sport and give them an opportunity to carry those on to other things."

The Scholar-Athlete Society started in 2003 with only 36 athletes. Although the amount of teams at CLU has remained the same, the number of athletes honored has jumped exponentially.

This year's total represents nearly 30 percent of the athletes at CLU.

"They are competitive people, and if you let them know what the expectation is, they are going to go for it," Kuntz said. "Once it happens once and someone see it, they realize the opportunity is there for them and it becomes a road map for others to follow."

CLU distance runner Roy Ostrander and women's water polo player Bobby Sanders, who were recently named Cal Lutheran Senior Scholar-Athletes of the Year, have been members of the society all four years at CLU.

In front of a large gathering of relatives, coaches and administrators, each of the 116 honorees received certificates and other small tokens of reward.

"If they have the passion and commitment to their sport, it is a large chunk of their time they have to dedicate to play," Kuntz said. "It's asking a lot because they are not getting scholarship money or a private tutor or special trainer or registration just for them. They are doing this on their own because they want to."

Kuntz believes the environment at CLU is conducive for athletes to balance sports and academics successfully.

"The students have people around them and resources available if they need support, and I think a person tends to thrive more if they feel like they can do more," Kuntz said. "I think those things have really evolved at CLU the last several years and there has been a lot of work to ensure the infrastructure is in place."

Paging Dr. Kuntz: Kuntz's men's soccer players can soon call him Dr. Kuntz instead of just Coach Kuntz. The Thousand Oaks resident is receiving his doctorate of higher education leadership from CLU. Kuntz will be donning a cap and gown on Friday night to culminate his four years of study.

Kuntz will be the third doctor in his family, although the other two are the more traditional types. His father and sister are physicians.

"I love to learn and I don't think you ever stop learning," Kuntz said. "I am in a position where I want to experience what our students go through and learn how to support them more. That's important to me."

Honors all around: Senior thrower Eric Flores defended so many titles this season, it's only fitting he defended his SCIAC Track and Field Male Athlete of the Year honor as well. Flores was one of 29 members of the CLU track and field teams to receive All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors. Caius Radu and Julea Juarez earned All-SCIAC honors in four events. Flores and fellow thrower Peter Vermillion were honored in three different events while Eric Rogers, Erica Carter, Lauren Rohach, Toccoa Kahovec and Kendall Sauter each earned multiple All-SCIAC honors. ... Sophomores Nick Boggan and Trevor Koons were first-team All-SCIAC selections in baseball while juniors Byron Minnich, John LaMoure and Iggy Wagner were second-team selections. ... Freshman Danika Green was a second-team All-SCIAC selection in softball. ... Sanders and junior Christina Messer were All-SCIAC second-team selections in water polo. ... Senior baseball player Richard Michelin and junior softball player Sara Lichtsinn were named to the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District VIII second teams.

Record breakers: The CLU women's 4 x 400 relay team broke a 22-year old school record by nearly three seconds on Saturday at the Occidental Invitational. Melissa Muntzel, Lauren Rohach, Nicole Camarillo and Julea Juarez completed the race in a time of 3 minutes, 57.09 seconds.

--- Published in the Ventura County Star on May 10, 2011