Out of the many athletes that have attended Azusa Pacific, a few have stood out, such as Lindsey West, Dave Canales and Stephen Vogt.
Since Azusa Pacific University was officially given the green light to be given national affiliation back in 1965, many talented athletes have played here, according to the APU Athletics Website.
Out of the many athletes, there have been a few that have shown themselves to be incredibly talented, doing amazing things both for APU and in their careers. Three of APU’s best athletes include Lindsey West, Dave Canales and Stephen Vogt.
Lindsey West
Photo via APU Athletics
Lindsey West was part of the women’s basketball team from 2002–2006, where she played forward. She immediately stood out since she was the only freshman of 2003 to have been selected for the All-GSAC team and was given the NAIA All-American honorable mention. West would later receive the NAIA All-American honor twice
The Hall of Fame not only points out the great honors West received but also her status as the program’s highest scorer in the university’s history of women’s basketball. She scored a total of 1,939 points during her four years.
West’s skills are what made her stand out from the rest. She was strong and played well, using her 5’11” height to her advantage. Not only that, West was also “deceptively quick and a smooth finisher under the basket.” This made it very hard for any defender to try to block her from taking a shot or maneuvering around them toward the basket.
While she pursued a different career after graduating, her record as the top scorer remains to this day, a testament to her incredible skills as a basketball player.
According to Bakersfield and LinkedIn, she became an accountant like her father. She is now an Audit Partner at Brown Armstrong Accountancy Corporation.
Dave Canales
Photo via APU Athletics
Dave Canales played receiver on the Cougar football team from 1999–2003 and became team captain between 2002 and 2003, according to the APU Athletic Department. During his time, the Cougars had a 36-15 record and had three playoff appearances.
The article states that he caught 27 passes and had a touchdown reception in his senior year as a receiver.
While Canales’s skills as a player were good, it wasn’t until after he graduated that he began to rise in the football world.
Canales became a coach at his high school where he rose the ranks to eventually be invited by, at that time, the new head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, Pete Carroll, to join his coaching staff. His skills as a coach shined through when he would become the first Cougar to be part of any NFL football team to win the Super Bowl in 2013, according to Pro Football History.
As the Assistant Quarterbacks Coach and Offensive Quality Control Coach, Canales worked to help with scheduling, planned new strategies against future opponents for the head coach and monitored the team’s performance to evaluate the different players.
With the recent news of Canales becoming the NFL Coordinator Coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his skills as a coach are an inspiring example to many students here at APU.
Stephen Vogt
Photo via APU Athletics
Stephen Vogt played baseball for APU between 2004 and 2007, where he rose to become a top player in the game, according to the APU Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame states that “Vogt set nine school records in his 187-game career, including the highest career batting average at .451.” The main batting average is .300 in general.
After graduating, Vogt would remain relatively quiet as he played for the Tampa Bay Rays until, as part of a deal, he joined the Oakland A’s in 2013.
Vogt began to shine through in Oakland, making an incredible feat according to SB Nation: “Stephen Vogt hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth, driving in the only run of the game in the Oakland Athletics 1-0 over the Detroit Tigers in Game 2 of the ALDS.”
This would continue onward with the Oakland A’s as Bleacher Report wrote, “Vogt isn’t just doing the same things he was doing in 2013 and 2014 and getting better results. That stands out most in how he’s more than doubled his walk rate (5.6 to 12.6) and his power production (.152 ISO to .337 ISO, via FanGraphs). Rather than luck, Vogt says this is the product of adjustments.”
With Vogt’s skills and incredible plays, he became an MLB All-Star for the A’s in both 2015 and 2016.
His baseball career is a great motivational story of someone rising through hard work and determination.