Belinda Lujano & Ian Rho Named Jersey Mike’s Student-Athletes of the Week
By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director
College of the Canyons student-athletes Belinda Lujano (softball) and Ian Rho (men's swim & dive) have been named the Jersey Mike's COC Athletic Department's Women's & Men's Student-Athletes of the Week for the period running April 13-18. Lujano and Rho are the 13th set of honorees for the 2026 winter/spring period.
Belinda Lujano / Softball
Lujano's hot hitting helped the Cougars secure a pair of important conference victories while extending her hitting streak to an impressive seven games.
The shortstop out of Burbank High School started the week with a 1-for-3 performance that included a walk, stolen base and two runs in helping COC to a 17-0 road win at Glendale College on April 14.
In the Cougars' next game, Lujano, one of six players recognized during the team's 'Sophomore Day' ceremony, finished 2-for-3 with a team best three RBIs and scored two more runs as part of a 17-0 trouncing of L.A. Valley College.
Lujano capped the week with a combined three hits, including a triple, a walk, run and two stolen bases in the Cougars' home doubleheader loss vs. No. 1 state ranked Palomar College. The seven-game hit streak is one shy of Lujano's season-best mark of eight straight.
She finished the week 6-of-12 with a triple, two walks, three stolen bases, five runs and three RBIs.
Ian Rho / Men's Swim & Dive
Rho was the Cougars' top performer at the three-day Western State Conference (WSC) Championship meet held April 16-18 at L.A. Valley College, with the sophomore swimming well enough to punch his ticket to the upcoming 3C2A State Championship meet.
The Crescenta Valley High School alum posted his best result in the 400-yard IM, placing second at time of 4:18.29 to also represent Rho's personal best time in the event.
Earlier in the meet Rho swam fourth in the 200-yard IM (1:58.33) in another personal best performance. Rho closed out the meet's third day of competition with a fourth-place result in the 200-yard backstroke (1:58.26).
In the relay events, Rho continued to lead the Cougars. He teamed with Xuanhao Guo, George Garibay and Ethan Thai to clock a time of 4:01.48 while placing sixth in the 400-yard medley relay. The combination of Thai, Garibay, Williams and Rho also took eighth in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:36.11) to represent the team's top two results.
Up next, Rho will swim at the 3C2A Swim & Dive State Championships after his performances at the conference championships qualified him to compete in the 200 IM, 400 IM and 200-yard backstroke events.
This is Rho's second Jersey Mike's Student-Athlete of the Week award of the semester.
Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
