Cal State player earns academic honor

Cal State San Bernardino women's water polo player Sabrina Marquez was selected to the ESPN-The Magazine academic all-America third team in the College Division by a vote of the nation's  sports information directors.

            Marquez, a senior graphics design major, maintained a 3.73 grade point average while excelling in her sport for the Coyotes over the past two seasons after transferring from Chaffey College. She is a 2004 graduate of San Bernardino High School and one of nine children in her family.

            The 2007-08 CSUSB Athletics Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year was an impact player for the Coyotes. She earned NCAA Div. II all-America honors in 2007 by scoring 81 goals, 13th best in the nation after twice earning JC all-America honors at Chaffey in 2005 and 2006.

            This season Marquez scored 52 goals and set a team single-season record with 69 assists. She also had 43 steals. She now ranks No. 5 on the CSUSB career scoring list with 133 goals and No. 3 on the team's career assist list with 123.

            Marquez has received the CSUSB Athletics "Leader of the Pack" academic awards each quarter since she enrolled in the fall of 2006. Those awards to go student-athletes who earn a 3.5 or higher grade point average.

            She is the daughter of Hermelinda and Silviano Marquez of San Bernardino.

            Marquez is the second CSUSB water polo player to earn academic all-America honors. The first was Taryn Harp, a former Pacific High School/San Bernardino swimming and water polo star, who was voted to the third team in 2002-03.

            Marquez is one of only four West Coast student-athletes selected to the three 15-person academic all-America teams. The others were Gina Auriemma (rowing) of Western Washington, Audrey Coon (rowing) of Western Washington, and Lindsey Cline (swimming) of Cal Baptist in Riverside.

            Honorees in the at-large category included players in the sports of tennis, lacrosse, gymnastics, golf, rowing, field hockey, skiing and water polo.

            The academic all-America program has been directed by the College Sports Information Directors Association since 1952, honoring over 14,000 student-athletes in three NCAA divisions and the NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

            ESPN The Magazine, the title sponsor, is a bi-weekly publication with a circulation of 1.9 million.