Taylor Pullins, Nevada

Stephanie Pascucci, San Jose State

DENVER Nevada baseball player Taylor Pullins and San Jose State volleyball player Stephanie Pascucci have been named as the 2002-03 Western Athletic Conference Stan Bates Award winners. The award is named in honor of former WAC Commissioner Stan Bates. The award honors the WACs top male and female scholar-athletes and recognizes the recipients athletic and academic accomplishments. In addition, the awards carry a $2,000 postgraduate scholarship.

Pullins, a senior from Orem, Utah, recently graduated from Nevada, majoring in Spanish with a Journalism minor. The Wolf Pack shortstop posted a cumulative GPA of 3.94. In hitting .308 with four home runs for Nevada, Pullins received a number of academic accolades. He was awarded a School of Journalism and University General Scholarship while being named to the WAC all-Academic team. Pullins was named Co-Captain to begin the season and his play at shortstop earned him a second-team all-WAC selection. This past season, Pullins was also a volunteer translator from English to Spanish for Spanish language radio and television stations in Reno, Nev. He was also an assistant coach for a local area Babe Ruth League baseball team.

Over his college tenure, Pullins was named to the Deans List four times at Dixie State College, graduating Summa Cum Laude. He repeated his Deans List sweep, being named to the list at the University of Nevada four times. While at BYU, Pullins worked a number of summer baseball camps. He was a volunteer for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Santiago, Chile. In 2001-02, Pullins tutored reading at the Veterans Memorial Elementary School.

Taylor (Pullins) is one of the most outstanding students I have met since I began teaching five years ago, stated Donica Mensing, Ph.D, an assistant professor at Nevada. He is an excellent writer and thinker, performing extremely well in a media ethics course he took with me. He has strong leadership qualities, as evidenced both in the classroom and in his role as co-captain on the university baseball team.

Pascucci, a senior from Cerritos, Calif., graduated from San Jose State Cum Laude with a degree in Kinesiology, Sport Management. While leading the Spartans with 472 kills and hitting percentage at .294, the middle blocker earned a cumulative GPA of 3.62. Pascucci was given the 2003 Order of Sparta Academic Excellence Award. She was also named to the Deans List and was a Golden Key Honor Society Member. In picking up all of her academic accolades, Pascucci led off the 2002 season being named to the 2002 preseason all-WAC team and finishing the season with a first-team all-WAC selection. She was named to the Golden Bear Invitational all-Tournament team and was named a WAC Player of the Week in October.

For her career, Pascucci was a four-time San Jose State scholar athlete, while being named to the WAC all-Academic team three times. She played in two NCAA Tournaments (2000, 2001) and was on the San Jose State Student-Athlete Advisory Council for two years. Pascucci coached for Club Yahoo!, a local area club volleyball organization. She also volunteered at Sacred Heart Community Center and had internships in both the San Jose State and San Francisco 49er media relations departments.

She (Pascucci) frequently took a leadership role in the classroom and drew from both the research and her own athletic and academic experiences to make and defend her points, stated Ted Butryn, Ph.D, a professor in the Department of Human Performance at San Jose State. In short, along with athletic and academic successes, I feel that she is equally as successful as a person and a citizen of the university community.

2002-03 Stan Bates Award Nominees
Men, School-Sport
James Finks, Boise State-Track and Field
Taylor Pullins, Nevada-Baseball
Omar-Seli Mance, Rice-Basketball
Timothy Provost, San Jose State-Football

Women, School-Sport
Renate Stoop, Boise State-Tennis
Amanda Felder, Rice-Track and Field
Stephanie Pascucci, San Jose State-Volleyball

Previous Bates Award Winners
Year - Men, Sport,School
2003 - Taylor Pullins, Baseball, Nevada
2002 - Chad Stoloff, Tennis, Nevada
2001 - Sebastian Iannariello, Tennis, TCU
2000 - Jeffery Piper, Cross Country, Rice
1999 - Nate Kvamme, Football, Colorado State
1998 - Byron Shefchik, Swimming and Diving, BYU
1997 - Obadele Thompson, Track and Field, UTEP
1996 - Greg Myers, Football, Colorado State
1995 - Stoney Case, Football, New Mexico
1994 - Justin Hall, Football, New Mexico
1993 - Jason Elam, Football, Hawaii
1992 - Chris Nelson, Track and Field, Air Force
1991 - Robert Clayton, Swimming and Diving, Wyoming
1990 - Collin Davie, Track and Field, Utah
1989 - Randy Welniak, Football, Wyoming
1989 - Chuck Cutler, Football, Brigham Young
1988 - Chad Hennings, Football, Air Force
1987 - Steve Bartalo, Football, Colorado State
1986 - Rich Strong, Basketball, Colorado State
1985 - Ed Eyestone, Track and Field, Brigham Young
1984 - Jeff Kubiak, Football, Air Force
1983 - David Schreck, Football, Air Force
1982 - Frankie Sedillo, Football, New Mexico
1981 - Blane Gaison, Football, Hawaii

Year - Women, Sport, School
2003 - Stephanie Pascucci, Volleyball, San Jose State
2002 - Jennifer Ashcroft, Track and Field, Nevada
2001 - Becky Witt, Softball, Fresno State
2000 - Jennifer Cafferty, Basketball, Rice
1999 - Shelly Borrman, Colorado State
1998 - Christina Bell, Soccer, Fresno State
1997 - Angelica Ljungquist, Volleyball, Hawaii
1996 - Teresa James, Basketball, Colorado State
1995 - Amy Burnett, Basketball, Wyoming
1994 - Heidi Standteiner, Skiing, Utah
1993 - Anu Kaljurand, Track and Field, Brigham Young
1992 - Missy Marlowe, Gymnastics, Utah
1991 - Laura Zaugg, Track and Field, Brigham Young