Irvine Valley College held its annual Campus Recognition Celebration last week at the Live Oak Terrace behind the Performing Arts Center.
Several athletics student-athletes, teams and coaches were honored.
For men's tennis
Sophomore Javier Callejo was the CCCAA State singles and doubles men's tennis champion. Won the state singles title for the second year in a row. Callejo earned the triple crown this year in men's tennis, winning the singles, doubles and team titles for Irvine Valley. He is the first player to win the Triple Crown since 2002 and the 10th Triple Crown winner since State Championships began in 1960.
Sophomore big server Lucas Lesoeur won the doubles title with teammate Javier Callejo. It is the third year in a row that an Irvine Valley team has won the state title in doubles. Lesoeur was also a key member of the 2017 Irvine Valley team that won a state title.
Irvine Valley won its third straight state title with a 5-1 win over American River on Apr. 26 in Ventura. It was a rematch of last year's state final between the two No. 1 seeds and the score was the same. Irvine Valley (19-0) completed an undefeated season for the first time in school history. The Lasers have won 35 straight matches and are 58-3 in the last three years with all three losses coming to four-year schools. This was their fourth straight appearance in the California state final and they're 3-1. Irvine Valley is the second straight men's team to win three straight State titles, following in the footsteps of Fresno City in 2012-14. College of the Desert holds the all-time record with six straight State titles from 1998-2003.
Men's tennis coach Ross Duncan was once again chosen to represent the U.S. against players from 25 other countries in the ITF Young Seniors World Team Championships. Duncan was one of 24 of the top American players in the age categories of 35-45 that headed to South Africa for the event. It was the highest-ranked event on the ITF Seniors Circuit for male and female players in these age categories. It was the sixth straight year that he was named to the team. And Duncan has been a consistent captain of the squad. Since taking over the Irvine Valley men's team five years ago, Duncan has turned the Lasers into one of the top programs in the state. IVC won its first ever CCCAA State Championship in 2015 and has followed up with team titles in 2016 and 2017.
For men's soccer
Jose Rivera, a sophomore midfielder on the Irvine Valley men's soccer team, was one of 24 players named to the California Community College Soccer Coaches Association Men's All-State Team. He was one of 12 players chosen from the Southern California region and four players in the Orange Empire Conference. Rivera was a two-year all-conference selection for the Lasers. He was also named to the Southern California All-Region team. Rivera finished with 13 goals and 14 assists for 40 points. He was tops on the IVC team in assists and also paced the conference and ended up fourth in the state in the category. Rivera helped Irvine Valley reach a Southern California Regional Playoff Final for the second year in a row this season. Irvine Valley ended up ranked seventh in the state and 10th in the nation in final polls.
Sean Goode was named to the 2016 California Community College Soccer Coaches Association Southern California All-Region Team. Goode had already been named first team all-Orange Empire Conference. Goode, who played striker, paced Irvine Valley's offensive attack. He scored a team-high 20 goals and added five assists for 45 points. Goode led the conference in goals at the end of the year and was second in points.
The Irvine Valley men's soccer team ended up ranked seventh in the final CCCAA state poll. The Lasers finished the year with a record of 16-5-3 overall. Irvine Valley finished second in the Orange Empire Conference (9-2-3 record) behind Golden West and won two regional playoff games, beating Victor Valley, 4-0, and Rio Hondo, 3-2, before falling to Mt. SAC in the regional Final, 3-2. The Lasers out-scored opponents, 65-31, this past season and recorded six shutouts. They had seven matches in which they scored four goals or more this year. Several players were named all-conference, including sophomore forward Sean Goode and sophomore midfielders Jose Rivera and Albert Chavez on the first team and sophomore forward Connor Elder and sophomore defender Joseph Ferguson on the second team.
For women's golf
Freshman Araceli Esquivel placed sixth and earned a spot on the all-state team at the CCCAA Women's Golf State Championships at the Morro Bay Golf Course last fall. Esquivel shot a round of 2 over par 74 on Sunday and followed that a 5 over par 77 on Monday to finish sixth with a score of 151. Irvine Valley finished in seventh place out of eight teams overall.
Sophomore Marisa Bhanubandh fired an even par 74 to win the scoring championship at the Orange Empire Conference finals at Los Serranos in Chino Hills. Bhanubandh finished with a two-day total of 156. As a team, Irvine Valley ended up in second place in the final conference standings.
For women's tennis
The Irvine Valley's women's tennis team avenged an earlier loss to Riverside and with it captured its second Orange Empire Conference title in program history in early April. IVC's first conference title happened in 1999.
The Lasers earned a share of the title with a 6-3 win at Riverside. It was the regular season finale for Irvine Valley. IVC, which was ranked No. 1 in Southern California in the last Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll, improved its record to 10-4 overall and 8-2 in conference. IVC took control with wins in all three doubles contests and then split the six singles matches to come away with the win.