Pacific Union College, a small Seventh-day Adventist school in Angwin, didn’t go unrecognized at Sunday’s California Pacific Conference convention.

For the second year in a row, the Pioneers were honored with the league’s sportsmanship award. It’s a vote of the coaches, who looked at character, personality and the way athletes handled and conducted themselves in winning or losing situations.

“It means a lot for us here, because there are still people ... alumni that probably wish we didn’t have an athletic program,” said Robert Castillo, the Pioneers’ athletic director. “So I think it shows them that we are representing PUC in a positive manner. I think it speaks very highly of the type of student-athletes and coaches that we have here. It’s definitely nice to be recognized for that. It’s a big deal for us.

“Our focus here is to continue to try and build our program and improve as far as wins and losses go. We definitely work to win and play to win.”

One of the highlights to the 2006-07 school year was Pacific Union securing the sixth seed and hosting a first-round game in the CalPac men’s basketball tournament. An overflow crowd — led by the “Pioneer Posse,” a student rooting section — turned out to see PUC march into the postseason in mid February on a two-game winning streak with all kinds of momentum. Adding to the excitement of PUC’s best basketball season in eight years was a pep rally on campus earlier in the day.

The Pioneers lost that game, 85-77 to Simpson College of Redding. But the fans showed great respect and admiration for a super season by standing and applauding the Pioneers while also chanting “PUC” over and over as the season came to a close.

Making their first-ever appearance in the conference playoffs, PUC got 24 points from Dustin Miracle and 16 from Ayotade Adeogun.

“That’s kind of what we’ve been striving to get here, the support from the student body, faculty and the administration,” Castillo said Monday. “Support can come in a lot of different ways, but the atmosphere that it created with having the gym full and noisy is really what we were looking for, to create the best type of college athletic atmosphere.

“It was really exciting for us. We’re going to try and keep that building and growing.”

Another school year is just around the corner, and while the first day of classes isn’t until Sept. 25, things are already hopping at the private institution that is affiliated with the NAIA.

Two-a-day practices for the women’s volleyball team began yesterday in Pacific Auditorium.

Practices for the men’s soccer team start today.

And basketball tryouts take place the first week of school.

“We feel real fortunate to be part of the CalPac Conference,” said Castillo. “We think it’s a great conference with a great schedule. Basketball has a chance to play in a conference tournament.”

• Castillo a marathon man

The busiest person in the athletic department has to be Castillo, who is not only AD and sports information director, but also interim volleyball coach and the new men’s basketball coach. His day starts early and finishes late. When he’s not coaching or in his office, he’s working from home.

“It’s going to be an interesting year,” he said during a break from volleyball practice. “This year for me, personally, is going to be one of survival. My main focus is that I don’t let the student-athletes down. I want to be accessible to them and I want to be here to help them in any way that I can — on or off the court.”

As the school’s AD, he’s in charge of overseeing the different intercollegiate programs, game management and facilities. He coordinates travel schedules and works closely with Michael Hellie, the department chair for exercise science, health and nutrition.

As the SID, Castillo maintains the athletic web site (www.puc.edu/pioneers) and produces news releases and statistical packages for media outlets, and also publishes game progams.

There’s definitely a lot on his plate to start the 2007-08 school year.

“Wearing all kinds of different types of hats is fun in a way, because you’re so involved in everything,” he said. “But at times it gets a little bit too much. So it’s probably not the ideal situation. But luckily I have enough support in my immediate department to be able to do it and have students who really help us out in different areas.

“The fun part of it for me are the student-athletes that we have here. They are a great group to work with. They work hard on the court.”

Pacific Union, a non-scholarship school, is joined in the CalPac by nine other schools: Simpson, Dominican University (San Rafael), William Jessup University (Rocklin), Menlo College (Atherton), Holy Names University (Oakland), Mills College (Oakland), Bethany University (Scotts Valley), Cal State East Bay (Hayward), and Cal State Maritime Academy (Vallejo).

The conference, born in 1996-97, is one of the largest Division II leagues in the NAIA. The CalPac has continued to expand and increase the level of competition each year of its existence. The league sponsors four women’s sports (soccer, volleyball, basketball and cross country) and four men’s sports (soccer, basketball, cross country and golf).

The CalPac is planning to offer two more sports in the near future, softball and baseball.

“I don’t know that we’ll add them here,” said Castillo, 33.

• Basketball coming up

Castillo is stepping down as women’s basketball coach after five years to take over the men’s team. He replaces Scott Blunt, who resigned after eight years with the Pioneers.

“Scott did a great job in the time he was here in building the program,” said Castillo. “We hated to see him leave. When I made the decision to move over, it was a decision that I was excited about.”

The Pioneers return not only Miracle and Adeogun, but Brandon Monty, Benny Gipson and Cameron Barnes.

In the game against Simpson, Miracle was 8-of-10 from the floor, 3-of-4 on 3-pointers, and finished with six rebounds and two assists; Gipson had five points and six rebounds; Monty had seven points; and Adeogun had five rebounds for Pacific Union (9-14 overall, 6-10 CalPac).

“With men’s basketball, we’re just going to try and keep the momentum going and keep building on the success that we gained last year,” Castillo said. “The group that’s coming back is very excited on building on that.

“We’re really excited about the young core group that’s coming back. I think the group that’s coming back is definitely excited for the challenge and ready to go. It’s a great mix of older veterans and a young group that really came in and made an immediate impact last year. We’re really excited about our athleticism. The style may change a little bit. I told them in the spring our main focus was going to be on defense and rebounding.”

Castillo and his wife, April, make their home in Angwin with their two children, Maya (3) and Ashton (4 months).

Castillo has also coached at PUC Prep School, Loma Linda Academy and Glendale Academy. He teaches activity classes at Pacific Union College in the exercise science, health and nutrition department.

“Without the support of my wife and family, I would not be able to do all of this,” said Castillo, a 1997 PUC graduate who majored in physical education. “My wife does a great job supporting, encouraging and raising our two kids. She does a great job managing the home while I’m out of the house or out of town.”