Clovis Community College athletes earn Kiwanis Torchlighter Awards

For two decades, local Kiwanis service clubs have honored student athletes from local junior colleges at the annual Kiwanis Torch of Excellence Dinner.

This year, Clovis Community College got to join the party.

The campus introduced its first sports teams — soccer, swim and dive — this year, and several athletes earned GPAs high enough to be honored at the dinner.

Kiwanis Torchlighter Awards go to student-athletes who maintained a grade point average higher than 3.5 during the fall or spring semester.

More than 450 people gathered in Clovis Veterans Memorial District on Monday to honor the Reedley College Tigers, Fresno City College Rams and Clovis Community College Crush who demonstrated hard work and achievement both athletically and in their educational pursuits.

Megan Smith and Luke Pfaunmiller, both on the Clovis Community College swim and dive team, were named female and male scholar athlete for the school.

The following Clovis Community College student-athletes earned Torchlighter Awards:

Diego Banda, soccer, Buchanan High School

Lauren Barcelos, swim and dive, Clovis North High School

Sergio Cazarez, soccer, Madera High School

Christian Cline, soccer, Bullard High School

Sarah Danae Condra, soccer, Campus Christian Academy

Jesus Garnica, soccer, West Hills High School

Brandon Goldman, soccer, Buchanan High School

Kalina Goodarzi, soccer, Bullard High School

Lydia Latour, swim and dive, Glacier High School

Sarah Mace, soccer, Samuel de Champlain in Paris, France

Megan Smith, swim and dive, Clovis North High School

Elisa Soderholm, soccer, Buchanan High School

Maricela Soto, soccer, Hoover High School

Drew Walters, soccer, Clovis West High School

This story was originally published May 3, 2017 at 4:50 PM with the headline "Clovis Community College athletes earn Kiwanis Torchlighter Awards."