Chase Pami, a 157-pound senior wrestler and women’s basketball junior forward Kristina Santiago were honored as Cal Poly’s 2009-10 Athletes of the Year at the annual Night of the Mustang banquet and awards ceremony.
Pami, the second Mustang wrestler in the past three years to receive the award, became the sixth NCAA Division I runner-up in Mustang wrestling history in March after posting a 29-7 record.
Pami, seeded seventh, fell to top-seeded J.P. O’Connor of Harvard in the 157-pound final March 20 at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.
Pami compiled a 100-35 career mark at Cal Poly. He placed seventh in last year’s NCAA meet and is the ninth two-time All-American at Cal Poly. Pami also joined Tom Klin, John Woods, Cliff Hatch, Louie Montano and Chad Mendes as the only Mustangs to earn second-place finishes at the Division I nationals.
Santiago, the first Big West Player of Year selection in Cal Poly women’s basketball history, earned all-conference first-team praise for the second straight year after leading all players in the conference in points (19.6) and steals (2.41) per game and ranking second with 8.4 rebounds per game.
Santiago, a three-time Big West Player of the Week selection, scored 19.6 points-per-game — an average ranked 16th among Division I players — while her 54.5 percent field goal mark ranked 19th.
Santiago’s 569 points this year rank as the third-highest amount in program history while her 245 rebounds rank as the second-best total. She became the first player in program history to score 500 points and grab 200 boards during the same season.
Santiago, who needs just 64 points to become the third-leading scorer in program history, reached double-digit scoring figures during all 29 games this year, recorded nine double-doubles, paced the Mustangs in scoring 20 times and accounted for 27 percent of the program’s 2,081 points.
Other male athletes nominated for the Athlete of the Year were baseball senior outfielder/designated hitter Luke Yoder, basketball senior guard Lorenzo Keeler, cross country senior Joe Gatel, football senior defensive end Ryan Shotwell, freshman golfer Pace Johnson, junior soccer forward David Zamora, junior swimmer Peter Kline, freshman tennis player Jordan Bridge and track and field freshman sprinter Taylor Herrera.
Female athletes nominated for the award were cross country freshman Kayleigh Tyerman, senior golfer Maddy Fletcher, junior indoor and outdoor track and field jumper Jasmine Pickett, senior soccer goalkeeper Coral Hoover, senior first baseman Krysten Cary, freshman swimmer Angie Haven, senior tennis player Brittany Blalock and volleyball freshman middle blocker Jennifer Keddy.