SAN DIEGO, CALIF -- The 38th Annual edition of the Sports Banquet was held in the Jenny Craig Pavilion Thursday evening. A total of 261 guests were in attendance with fantastic food and a Draw Down Game with over 60 great prizes handed out. With the help of the Sports Banquet Committee, twenty-two sponsors and 53 Gold Club Members, USD Athletics raised over $150,000 that will assist Torero student-athletes. Once again, NBC7 Sports Anchor Jim Laslavic did a great job as emcee and Game Master for the evening, with assistance from Jack Cronin, Voice of the Toreros, who announced the prizes throughout the evening.

Ky Snyder, Vice President for Athletics and Facilities Management, addressed the crowd and thanked everyone for their support of Torero Athletics. He highlighted a few of our Torero athletes making a difference -- Marta Stojanovic, a senior on the women's tennis team, for being named this year's College of Arts and Sciences Class Valedictorian; TJ Hodges, a junior on the men's cross country team, for being named the 2016-17 Student Body President; and Lisa Kramer, a junior women's volleyball player, for saving a young girl's life recently with CPR skills she learned in classes run by our Sports Medicine and Athletic Training staff.

Snyder introduced USD President Jim Harris who addressed the crowd and paid tribute to the late Author E. Hughes, USD President from 1971-95, who created the Sports Banquet in the late 1970's and helped guide USD's transition from the NCAA Division II ranks to its current NCAA Division I membership. President Harris also touched on the importance of Torero Athletics, the success of our nationally ranked programs across campus, our Leading Change Capital Campaign, and Envisioning 2024 which aims for setting and reaching goals by the school's 75th anniversary.

The Draw Down Game came down to Candace Kasperick and USD volleyball head coach Jennifer Petrie for the Grand Prize of $10,000. Petrie took home the runner-up prize of a week stay in Kona, Hawaii vacation (donated by Anne and J.D. Dudek '79). Kasperick graciously donated the $10,000 back to USD Athletics.

Special thanks to the Sports Banquet Committee -- Marco Alessio '84, Samuel Assael '02, Sam Attisha '89, Bill Berghoff '92, John Finneran III '80, Hannah Johnson '09, Roger Manion, Scott Marshall '91, Lynne Morris, Jackson Muecke '69, Marueen Pagni, Chris Pascale '83, Melissa Plaskonos, John Rodee '63, Andrew Rogers '02, William Scripps '83 and Kim Smith.

Next year's Sports Banquet will take place on Thursday, May 4th, 2017. If you would like to receive news about USD Athletics events and an invitation to attend next year's Sports Banquet, please contact athleticsdevelopment@sandiego.edu to add your contact information to the distribution list.