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Stepp, Bokulich Named Gonzaga's Senior Athletes
April 20, 2004 SPOKANE, Wash. - Rower Maria Bokulich and basketball standout Blake Stepp have been named the recipients of the Gonzaga University Bulldog Club Female and Male Senior Athlete of the Year, respectively. The duo was honored at Monday's Senior Athlete Social that regnozed Gonzaga's 54 senior student-athletes Bokulich is a 4-year Varsity 8 letterwinner for the Bulldog crew program, and in two weeks will try to lead the Bulldogs to an eighth straight West Coast Conference title and her fourth. Last season she was an All-WCC selection in addition to being a first-team All-West Region and a second-team All-America pick as selected by the College Rowing Coaches Association of America. As a junior selection in addition to being a first-team All-West Region and a second-team All-America pick as selected by the College Rowing Coaches Association of America. As a sophomore Bokulich was an All-WCC honoree as she helped the Bulldogs to the WCC title, a second-place finish in the Varsity 8 at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association championship and to the ECAC national title. The Bulldogs captured WCC and WIRA titles in 2002 and finished second in the Avaya National Championships as she earned All-WCC and All-WIRA first-team honors. She was a second-team All-West Region selection as a freshman in 2001 as Gonzaga won the WCC title, finished second in WIRA and third at Avaya. Stepp was an integral part of Gonzaga stretching its runs of NCAA Tournament appearances to six straight. He leaves Gonzaga fourth on the career scoring chart with 1,670 points, first in 3-point field goals made with 288 and second in career assists with 640. He was a two-time WCC Player of the Year and this past season was a second team Associated Press All-American and a John R. Wooden Award Top 10 All-American. Gonzaga won four WCC regular-season titles and three WCC Tournament titles during Stepp's tenure, and this past season was rated as high as No. 2 in the USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25. The Bulldogs finished third in the final AP Top 25 balloting. Gonzaga's No. 2 seed into the NCAA Tournament was the highest in school history.
Off the court Stepp was a second-team College Sports Information Director's of America All-American as a senior after garnering third-team honors as a junior. He has a 3.24 GPA in business administration.
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