June 4, 2009

SAN BRUNO, Calif. - LMU senior golfer Greg Moss has been named the 2009 West Coast Conference Mike Gilleran Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich announced Thursday. Moss is the third LMU male athlete and the third golfer overall to win the award, which is the highest honor handed out by the WCC.

"The West Coast Conference member institutions' mission is to promote the ideals of leadership not only on the field, but also within the classroom and in the community," said Zaninovich. "Gregory and Julie have exhibited those characteristics throughout their college careers and I am proud to recognize them as this year's Scholar Athletes."

Moss stepped up his play in 2009, his senior season, winning the WCC Golf Championship, advancing to the NCAA Regionals, and earning WCC First Team All-Conference honors while helping the Lions to a second place team finish. Moss transferred to Loyola Marymount in 2007-08 from the College of the Canyons and played at IUPUI before that. In his first year as a Lion, he played in 11 tournaments with a highest finish of 11th place at the UC Irvine Invitational. He also tied for 35th in that year's WCC Championships. The Sherman Oaks native went on to improve by leaps and bounds this year, playing in 11 tournaments and tying for eighth place on two different occasions at the UC Riverside and Colorado Invitationals. He was also a semi-finalist at the LA City T-8 Match Play Championship this season before taking the individual trophy at the WCC Championships.

In his two years at Loyola Marymount, Moss was named to the Dean's List all four semesters and was also placed on this year's first-team ESPN The Magazine Men's At-Large Academic All-District VIII. Graduating Summa Cum Laude with a 3.85 GPA and a degree in economics this past May, he also won this year's Wall Street Journal Student Achievement Economics Award, given to an economics major who has written an outstanding term paper or honors project in the last year. Moss' commitment to excellence also reached into the community as he has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and helped to collect shoes for the WCC Soles 4 Souls drive on his campus. In addition, he spent time volunteering for the L.A. Regional Special Olympics and did community service work at the Neighborhood Youth Association.

Moss is the first LMU student-athlete to be selected the WCC Scholar-Athlete of the Year since Kate Murray earned the honor in 2004. He is the first LMU male student-athlete to win the honor since Jeff Kovar in 2003. Moss is the seventh LMU student-athlete to be honored overall, joining Kovar (men's soccer - 2003), Michael Cortez (cross country - 2001) and Clemens Philippi (men's soccer - 1999) on the men's side and Murray (women's basketball - 2004), Tracy Holman (volleyball - 1998), and Sheri Brown (women's basketball - 1994) on the women's.

Pepperdine's Julie Rubenstein was named the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The highest honor in the WCC is selected by a vote of the WCC's institutional representatives to recognize the finest accomplishments in athletics, academics and community service by individuals who have completed their WCC eligibility.

- GO LIONS -