The Pepperdine University Athletic Department announced its 2016 Hall of Fame honorees on Monday, May 16. The Class of 2016 will include Pepperdine greats Scott Doerner, Anna Picarelli, Michael Putnam, Steve Rodriguez and Julie Rubenstein.
Doerner was a member of the men’s tennis team from 2003-06, where he played No. 1 singles and doubles on the 2006 NCAA championship team. He was recognized as an ITA All-American in 2005 and 2006 and earned an ITA Regional John Van Nostrand Memorial Award as an outstanding senior in 2006. After graduation, Doerner served as assistant coach of the Pepperdine women’s team for six seasons.
Picarelli played goalkeeper on the women’s soccer team from 2002-05, where she was a four-year starter during Pepperdine’s most successful four-year run ever. She is Pepperdine’s career leader in saves (319), save percentage (.846), goals-against average (0.81) and shutouts (32). After her run with the Waves, she went on to play professionally in Italy, where she made the Italian National Team and qualified for the 2010 World Cup.
Putnam played on the men’s golf team from 2002-2005, during which he was a three-time GCAA All-American and three-time WCC first team member. He holds Pepperdine records for scoring average (71.61), top 20 finishes (36, tied), top 10 finishes (22, tied) and below-par rounds (68), and has three of the four best single-season scoring averages in school history. He went on to earn PGA tour cards in 2007, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Rodriguez was a second baseman on the baseball team from 1990-92. He was named West Coast Conference (WCC) player of the year in 1992 and made the All-College World Series team after the Waves won the 1993 NCAA championship. In 1991, he set a Pepperdine single-season record with 104 hits while batting .419 — the third-best batting average in school history. He was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 1992 MLB draft and reached the Major League with Boston and Detroit in 2005. Rodriguez returned to Pepperdine to coach for 12 seasons before accepting a head coaching position at Baylor this year.
Rubenstein was an outside hitter on the women’s volleyball team from 2005-08. The three-time All-WCC first team member led the Waves in kills all four seasons and was number three in all-time kills for Pepperdine. She was a finalist for the 2008-09 NCAA Woman of the Year Award and received the Mike Gilleran award the same year for being the WCC’s top female scholar-athlete. She served as Pepperdine’s first-ever representative on the NCAA’s National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and went on to play on the U.S. A2 team, USA Select team and a senior-level national team after graduation.
This year’s Hall of Fame class will join 115 individuals, 14 teams and eight special achievement recipients who have been enshrined since 1980. The induction dinner and ceremony will take place on Oct. 16 in Pepperdine’s Firestone Fieldhouse, beginning at 6 p.m.
To learn more about the induction ceremony and to purchase tickets, visit pepathleticshof.eventbrite.com.
