The South Coast Conference has announced that Cerritos College women’s tennis player Sonia Gutierrez and Mt. San Antonio College men’s water polo player Michael Edwards are recipients of the 2008-2009 annual Don MacKenzie Memorial Scholarship awards. These $500 awards go to the conference athletes who exhibit strong academics and high performance on the field of play. In some cases, the student-athletes chosen are ones who also have overcome obstacles and involve themselves in community service. The awards honor the memory of MacKenzie, a long-time SCC commissioner from 1979-2004.

    Gutierrez, who spent two years on the women's tennis team (2007-08), will be transferring to the University of California-Berkeley in the fall of 2009 to finish her undergraduate degree. She will be majoring in anthropology and her goal is to go on to graduate school, obtain a Ph.D. in Forensic Anthropology, and become a university professor and medicolegal consultant. She has already earned an A.A. in Liberal Arts & Sciences with highest honors (3.95 GPA) and will receive her A.A in Anthropology in May, 2009.