Torch of Excellence

After a two-year COVID-19 hiatus, the 26th Torch of Excellence was held on April 25 at the Clovis Veterans Memorial District Building. The Rams had 12 Chancellor recipients who earned a 4.0 GPA for two semesters, 109 President’s recipients who earned a GPA of 3.51 – 4.0 for the spring or fall semester and 70 Dean’s recipients who maintained a 3.2 – 3.5 GPA for the spring or fall semester of 2021. Volleyball player, Lexi Pagani, was named the Female Athlete of the Year and Logan Azem from the baseball team was named the Male Athlete of the Year.

Lexi excelled at Fresno City College as both an Indoor and Beach Volleyball Player. Resiliency and leadership are two words that I think of regarding Lexi’s journey at FCC. She has overcome an ACL injury that held her out for the 2019 indoor and 2020 beach seasons. Through her diligent hard work, she came back at the start of the 2021 Beach season at a physically high level that catapulted her into a leadership role for our 2021 indoor state championship squad. She was an instrumental component to the 2021 volleyball championship season.

She contributed to the State Championship team by contributing to the MOST wins by a sophomore class in a 2-year career with 64. The 2021 team were undefeated CVC Champions and had the most team wins in program history with 33. Her individual honors included being named the MVP at the 2021 State Championship, selected 3rd Team All American and named the CCCAA December Athlete of the Month. She was also named All Nor-Cal, All State and 1st Team for the Central Valley Conference. She is now attending and playing at Cal State East Bay University on a volleyball scholarship.

According to head baseball coach Ron Scott, “Logan Azem is an outstanding role model as a student-athlete and All-League outfielder.” He has maintained a 3.89 GPA and has accepted a scholarship to play for Sacramento State in the fall. Logan not only excels at hitting a baseball, he is exceptional at it, as he led the Central Valley Conference with a .402 batting average. Logan has done this through hard work and perseverance. He has struggled at times with injuries that set him back, but through his hard work and determination, he has been successful.

The Rams finished their regular season with another 30-win season of 30-10 and clinched their 24 Central Valley Conference Championship on April 26. They will host Lassen College on Friday, May 6 at 3:00 p.m. in the first round of championship playoffs at the FCC ball park.