NOTES AND QUOTES for a Wednesday in the Napa Valley:

Lindsay Brown, a setter for the Sonoma State University volleyball team, was named All-Academic by the California Collegiate Athletic Association.

Brown, a Napa High School graduate, is the Seawolves’ record holder for career assists. Brown broke the record in a CCAA win over Humboldt State last year. In that record-breaking match, she posted 39 set assists.

In order to earn All-Academic status, a student-athlete must maintain a grade-point average of 3.4 or higher over a course load of at least 24 units. They also must be a letter winner on one of the Seawolves’ 13 intercollegiate athletic teams. 

A total of 58 Sonoma State student-athletes were named All-Academic during the 2008-09 school year. Forty-four of them earned their honors through the CCAA, while 14 others made the grade despite playing on a team that is not a conference member.

“The CCAA All-Academic honors for our student-athletes demonstrate the tremendous effort they put forward in the classroom on behalf of Sonoma State University,” Seawolves athletic director Bill Fusco said in a press release. “As an NCAA Division II program, academic excellence by our student-athletes is our top priority and we are very proud of their accomplishment.”

———

Napa’s Lea Wallace, an 800-meter runner who advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships for Cal State Sacramento, was named to the Big Sky Conference’s spring all-academic team. The honor is given to student-athletes who have participated in at least half of the team’s competitions, achieved at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at the conclusion of the spring term, and have completed at least one academic term at a Big Sky institution.

Wallace, who is majoring in family and consumer studies, closed out the 2009 season by placing seventh in the second heat of the women’s 800-meter run in a time of 2:07.27 at the NCAAs in Fayetteville, Ark., in June. She did not advance from the semifinals to the finals. Her time placed her 15th out of 18. The Vintage High graduate reached the semis after breaking the school record in a time of 2:05.55 in the opening round.

Wallace won the Big Sky title and placed third at the NCAA West Regional.

———

The Cal State Sacramento football team — which has Jake Croxdale (Napa High, running back), Jared Pereira (Vintage, linebacker) and Carlo Trinchero (St. Helena, linebacker) — was picked to finish seventh in the upcoming Big Sky Conference season in polls conducted by the league’s coaches and media.

Montana, the defending conference co-champion and national championship finalist, was tabbed to finish first in both polls.

Sacramento is coming off of a 6-6 season in 2008 in which the team produced a 3-5 Big Sky mark to tie for sixth place.

The Hornets open the 2009 season at UNLV on Sept. 5 and begin Big Sky play on Sept. 26 at home against Eastern Washington.

———

The Napa Track Club’s Michael Bozzini, who finished second in a field of 11 runners in the 800-meter run at the Track City Invitational at Hayward Field in Oregon two weeks ago, will join a very talented and experienced recruiting class of cross country runners and track athletes at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., in the fall.

“I’m very pleased with the type of student-athlete joining our program in the fall,” second-year coach Pat Tyson said on the school’s athletic web site. “It was late in the recruiting process a year ago when I got the job, but over the past year I’ve had time to evaluate the talent and bring in the type of student-athlete that will help the program grow.”

Bozzini is a Justin-Siena graduate.

———

Two Napa golfers, David Brown and Kevin Alexander, failed to qualify for the U.S. Amateur in recent qualifiers.

Brown shot 72-76 — 148 and tied for 17th at Yocha-De-He at Cache Creek Casino Resort. Only the top three placers advanced.

Alexander shot 72-70 — 142 and tied for eighth at Brookside Country Club in Stockton. The low three individuals qualified.

The U.S. Amateur is Aug. 24-30 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.

E-mail Executive Sports

Editor Marty James at mjames@napanews.com or call 256-2223.