Awards, Accomplishments, Honors

Fall 2007 Athletic Accomplishments

• Combined grade point average (GPA) for seven Fall 2007 teams was 3.05.
• Football: Valley Conference Champions, Third in State, and Fifth in Nation. Mr. Jeff Tisdel was awarded Region One Coach of the Year.
• Women’s Golf: Northern California Champions, Big 8 Conference Co-Champions, Fourth in State. Ms. Karen Linde was awarded Conference Co-Coach of the Year.
• Wrestling: State Champions by a wide margin. Mr. Ken Wharry was awarded Coach of the Year, Mr. Don Martinez was awarded Assistant Coach of the Year, and student Norman Richmond was awarded Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Wrestling Team Wins State Championship!

The Sierra College Wolverines for the first time in the six years under Ken Wharry and Don Martinez III, have finished off their season with a California Community College State Championship. They won with 146 points; second place had 103 points.

The Wolverines sent 10 wrestlers into the tournament held at Fresno City College December 8th and nine wrestlers came home with medals.

All Americans

Sophomore Chauncey Phillips finished off his career by becoming a two-time All-American for the Wolverines at 125 lbs by finishing 3rd. Sophomore Travis Wood also became a two-time All-American, finishing 6th at 157 lbs. Mingo Grant finished 3rd, earning All-American Honors. Mingo also became a two-time Academic All-American.

Freshman Chris Stanana finished 3rd at 149 lbs and Mike Fucci and Zeth St Clair both finished 4th at 165 lbs and 174 lbs. With their finishes they also earned All-American honors.

In the finals Sierra had 3 representatives as Norman Richmond won the 133 lb State Championship beating Paul Lyon of Cerritos College in a very exciting final.

Erik Nye finished off his career at Sierra undefeated in the Junior College ranks and becoming the second two-time Junior College State Champion for Sierra College since Brian Holt in 2000. He kept the streak alive of state heavyweight champions winning by fall in the finals for Sierra College.

Alex Howard moved up 2 weight classes and still finished 2nd at 184 lbs to earn his first All-American award.

Coaches of the Year

As a team three awards were presented. The Coach of the Year Award went to Head Coach Ken Wharry and the Assistant Coach of the Year Award went to Don Martinez III. The Most Outstanding Wrestler Award went to freshman Norman Richmond.

Professor Michelle Pacansky-Brock wins the 2007 Sloan Consortium Award for Excellence in Online Teaching

Michelle Pacansky-Brock, fulltime Professor of Art History, along with traditional classroom, teaches online classes for Sierra College. In addition to teaching online, Professor Pacansky-Brock is actively involved with the Sierra College Distance Education Committee, regularly participates in statewide conferences related to distance education and instructional technology and is currently serving as the college’s first Instructional Technology Coordinator. In the past year she has led efforts to develop the iTech Lab at Sierra College, a dedicated technology training resource for faculty and staff. She has secured grant funding in the amount of $10,500 to purchase equipment for the lab and will lead the first series of training sessions for faculty and staff in 2008. In recognition of her outstanding efforts and achievements for online education, The Sloan Consortium has named Ms. Pacansky-Brock the winner of the 2007 Excellence in Online Teaching Award.

A perfect example of what online classes should be

Students describe Professor Pacansky-Brock’s online classes as “a very exciting learning environment;” noting that her feedback is “extremely valuable;” students appreciate her ability to creatively combine online content with “real world experiences to increase understanding of course concepts;” and her classes have been described as “the perfect example of what an online class should be.”

The Sloan Consortium Award honors trailblazers

The Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) awards program, which recognizes outstanding achievements in Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALN), celebrates the creative spirit that improves the quality of online learning and program development. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation began supporting ALN implementations and research in 1992. Much has changed in the past decade, thanks to efforts of ALN pioneers. Today, ALN is part of the mainstream of higher education, supplementing face-to-face learning and rapidly becoming the predominant delivery mode for distance education courses and programs in the United States. These annual Sloan-C awards pay tribute to trailblazers whose contributions are significant for the evolution of ALN.

More information:

For more information about the online class offerings at Sierra College, go to http://lrc.sierracollege.edu/dl/. For more information about The Sloan Consortium, go to www.sloan-c.org.

Lamon Muldrow Offensive Player of the Year

It's been a heck of a fall for Lamon Muldrow. The Sierra College freshman tailback was named the California Community College Athletic Association Male Athlete of the Month after he had the most dominating stretch of any skill player in the state for October. In three games, Muldrow rushed for 753 yards and six touchdowns, including a state-best 286 yards and four scores in a win over Delta. For the season, he has a state-leading 1,430 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Muldrow this week was also named the Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year, joining fellow Wolverines first-teamers Kevin Will (QB), Carl Moore and Ryan Hedberg (WRs), Clint Lenard and David Peterson (OL), linebackers Julian Smith and Bryson Littlejohn (LBs), Christian Martinez and Chris Crank (DL) and Scottie Enos (kicker).

Coach Jeff Tisdel Coach of the Year

Sierra coach Jeff Tisdel was named Coach of the Year after leading the Wolverines to a 9-1 regular season, the No. 2 ranking in Northern California and the No. 7 ranking nationally, with each ranking representing a first in school history.

From Home Cookin' by Joe Davidson, Sacramento Bee. Read the column.

Sierra College Athletics Program Places Second in the Nation

The California Community College Commission on Athletics and National Alliance of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA) recently named Sierra College second in the nation for overall athletic excellence in 2006. In its four year history, the Pepsi/NATYCAA cup has ranked Sierra College Athletics in the top five each year. In 2003-04 Sierra captured first place to win the cup and in 2004-05 and 2005-06 the Wolverines came in fourth. This year the cup went to Orange Coast College.

The Pepsi Challenge Cup was created to honor the top schools in the nation in overall athletic performance as determined by the Commission on Athletics, a national association that monitors all sports each season. A college is awarded points based on its teams' final positions in post-conference competition. Each college's top-five men's and top-five women's team results count toward the school's overall point total.

Sierra College wins award for training employees from local businesses

Employers in Placer and Nevada counties have one of the best resources in the state for customized employee training based on a performance award recently won by Sierra College. The contract education program offered by the Sierra College Workforce Development and Continuing Education Division (SierraCollegeTraining.com) won an award for Exemplary Sales Performance.

To win, the program had to increase service and training by at least 15% over the last year. The award was presented at the California Community College Economic & Workforce Development Annual Conference in San Francisco on February 28, 2007.

Michelle Macfarlane, Agriculture, Wins 2006 Hayward Award for "Excellence in Education"

Michelle Macfarlane of Sierra College has been a lecturer and assistant professor of agriculture for more than seven years, also serving as Agriculture and Natural Resources Department Chair since 2002. As an educator, she sees it as her duty and passionate aim to provide “students with the ability to live autonomous lives, anticipate a future with a life-sustaining income, and participate in their communities as full and equal citizens.”

Macfarlane is keenly aware that diverse student populations require support that is tailored to their needs, and she responds appropriately; for example, because of the large number of single mothers enrolled in her program, she works closely with Equal Opportunity Programs and Services counselors to better assist their success. She has established crucial internships and partnerships with local businesses, trained students to be science-savvy in order to thrive in this era of exponential technological developments, and acted as a consultant on both transfer and career goals. She is a further asset to her campus as a member of its academic senate and Accreditation Committee, vice-chair of the Career and Technical Education Committee, a facilitator of the Instructional Skills Workshop and Collaborative Process training.

Geography Professor Sean Booth Wins Environmental Education Award From Mother Lode Chapter of the Sierra Club

Sean is a Professor of Geography at Sierra College and in addition to being a teacher, he found a calling as an activist. He became a member of the Placer Group Executive Committee, got appointed to the Biological Working Group for the Placer County Conservation Plan, and then joined the cause of saving Clover Valley. His contribution was the production of a full-length video entitled, “Clover Valley—Last of Its Kind.” The film examines the motivations of a small gro up of local residents who have engaged in a seven year battle to save this unique place. Somehow spared from becoming part of the surrounding urban sprawl, Clover Valley is now threatened by a major development project. The natural, historical and cultural values of the valley are lovingly explored in Sean’s film, as it convincingly makes the case that we will have lost something of our human spirit if places like this are not preserved.

The Women's Tennis Team Wins the 2007 State Championship!

After winning the Big 7 Conference Championship and the Northern California Championship, they cap off the season by defeating Saddleback College 5-2 on May 10th to win the State Team Finals! Coach Steve Dunmore has already been named 2007 California State Coach of the Year.

2007 Baseball Achievements

• 35 wins ties school record (set in 2006)
• Elite 8 finish in state of California
• All 12 sophomores will transfer to 4-year universities (4th consecutive year)
• Pitcher David Dinelli drafted in 6th round by Houston Astros (signed pro contract)
• First baseman Andy Launier signs pro contract with Houston Astros
• Three players sign national letters of intent with 2007 College World Series teams
  • Eric Deragisch - UC Irvine
  • Kevin Hammon - Oregon State University
  • Dustin LeRoy - Cal State Fullerton
• Chris Hopkins (2006 Sierra team) wins College World Series as starting CF for Oregon State

Congratulations 2005 Women's Golf!

The 2005 Womens Golf team was selected as one of the Fall 2005 Scholar teams. They will be honored at the COA Convention this April in Los Angeles. 2005 Team members are: Tara Mortimeyer, Sarah Westlake, Heather Thomas, Alisha Bernal, Jennifer Maisch and Tory Lupinetti. Coach - Karen Linde.

Wolverine Athletic Association 2007 Hall of Fame Inductees

The 2007 inductees ceremony and luncheon was held at the Sierra College Rocklin Campus Center on Saturday, February 10. Bryan May, sports anchor at KXTV News 10 in Sacramento acted as the Celebrity Master of Ceremonies for this event.

Here are this year's inductees and those from the last two years.

2007 Womens Softball

• Advanced to the California Community College State Championships Elite Eight.
• 2007 All-Conference Team Pitcher of the Year: Nicole Kociemba
• 1st Team: Nicole Kociemba, Leticia Cisneros-Coyne, Shelby Fleming, Candice Wermes, Sammy "Bo" Newman
• 2nd Team: Carli Leary, Lilly Nevarez, Courtney Olow
• Honorable Mention: Ashley Edgar, Amanda Morales
• All Nor-Cal: Leticia Cisneros-Coyne, Sammy "Bo" Newman
• ALL STATE: Nicole Kociemba
• Nominated for ALL AMERICAN: Candice Wermes, Sammy "Bo" Newman, Shelby Fleming

2006–7 Womens Basketball

• Finished #2 in the state of California; overall season record 32-5
• 2007 California Community College State Torurnament runner up
• 2006 -2007 All-Conference honors
  • Tamar Gruwell, Dani Jackson, Sarah McVicar
• 2006-2007 All-State honors
  • Tamar Gruwell, Sarah McVicar
• 2006-2007 CCCWBCA Coach of the Year – Brandie Murrish
• Scholar Baler recipient - Tamar Gruwell (4.0 GPA)
• Eight sophomores transferring to a 4-year University
• Four players receiving scholarships

Men's Golf Team Win Northern California Championships

On May 7, the Sierra men's golf team won the 2007 NCGA/COA Men's Individual and Team Golf Championships at Fort Washington Golf and Country Club. The top four teams qualify for State.

Wrestling Finishes 2006 Season 2nd in the State

• Finished 2nd at California State Championships, just 9 points shy of taking first place, Sierra finished with 7 All-Americans;
  • Two champions—Leland Gridley at 141and Erik Nye at 285
  • Two third place finishers—Matt Giffin at 157 and Mike Leslie at 184
  • Three 4th place finishers—Chauncey Philipps at 125, Travis Wood at 149 and Dan Barraza at 165.

History Instructor Gary Noy Recognized with 2006 “Outstanding Educator Award”

Gary Noy, Director of Sierra College’s Center for Sierra Nevada Studies, has been awarded the prestigious “Outstanding Educator Award” for the post-secondary level from the Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA) for 2006. Noy was recognized for his outstanding contributions to western American history through his leadership of the Center for Sierra Nevada Studies, which has produced the award winning Sierra Nevada Virtual Museum.

Sierra College-designed Website wins 2007 Dottie Award for Best Arts and Culture Website in Northern California