The 2016 Homecoming Court consists of five kings chosen by the Mortar Board National Honor Society and five queens chosen by the Bobcats Senior Honorary. Learn a bit about your 2016 Homecoming court below.
Berny Aguirre
Berny Aguirre was born and raised in Tucson and is a finance major in the Eller College of Management. He is the ZonaZoo game day operations manager, aka the guy who pumps up the crowd and throws T-shirts to the fans. He was nominated for king by the ZonaZoo and Alpha Phi.
Aguirre said he was that kid at 7 years old talking trash to fans of the opposing team at UA games. Today he said he is known for his “Berny Woo,” his signature shout people ask him to randomly do all the time. His dream job is to take Greg Byrne’s spot one day and retire at 45. If he could live on the beach, he would.
Why he wants to be Homecoming king:
“Personally, I think that I’m a leader on this campus and am looked up to by certain people on this campus in Eller and ZonaZoo,” Aguirre said. “I feel like I would love to be Homecoming king for the UA, especially because it’s the only school I applied to because I knew from the get-go I was going to come here. I knew it from the beginning since I was a little kid, and just the fact that I can possibly be Homecoming king is just a crazy thought.”
Andy Determan
Andy Determan is from Yuma, Arizona, and is studying criminal justice. He plans to go into the Marines after he graduates and was nominated for king by Chain Gang Junior Honorary, an organization he was part of last year.
Determan works for Arizona Athletics as the cheer team manager and enjoys hanging out with his friends and meeting new people. He is extremely defensive of his hometown and gets extremely upset when people refer to it as just a pit stop. He would like everyone to know that Yuma is the winter vegetable capital of the world, and without it, you would not be able to eat lettuce in the winter.
“I’m a strong believer in lettuce, and I really love Yuma,” Determan said.
Why he wants to be Homecoming king:
“I know people who were on past courts, and they say it’s the best week of your life and so fun,” Determan said. “I just really wanted to be on court because I wanted to meet new people and have these awesome memories this week.”
Jacob Garlant
Jacob Garlant was born and raised in Flagstaff and studies biomedical engineering. He was an resident assistant for two years and is in the Engineering Ambassadors club, which nominated him for king.
Garlant has a pet turtle named Gustavo who he said is like his son. He takes him to class sometimes and has an Instagram account for him: @gustavotheturtl3.
Why he wants to be Homecoming king:
“To have people look up to you like that, to have them see you as someone successful — it would be a really big honor to know there were people who look up to me and [who] believe that I represent the UA well …” Garlant said. “It’s just a really big honor, and I feel super blessed and excited for the opportunity and to get out there and meet new people.”
Scott Marshall
Scott Marshall is from Chandler, Arizona, and studies electrical and computer engineering. He is a member of the Honors College Ambassadors, which nominated him for king.
Marshall was an RA for two years, is a member of the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship through Eller College and is a sports statistician for the UA basketball team. For fun, he likes to play the drums. He is also a huge coffee enthusiast.
“I’d drink coffee over water if it didn’t kill me,” he said.
Why he wants to be Homecoming king:
“As an RA, as an Honors College Ambassador, I kind of embody what a student could be or at least the kinds of things they could do,” Marshall said. “As Homecoming king, to hold yourself as kind of a figure head, I feel like I would be a positive role model in that respect.”
Daniel Tannen
Daniel Tannen was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is studying biology. He works at C.A.T.S. Academics, the Student Union Memorial Center and is on the UA cheer team, which nominated him for king.
When he joined cheer, Tannen actually had no previous experience, other than cheering as a fan in the stands.
“You just go throw people up in the air and hopefully you catch them,” he said.
Tannen is currently applying for dental school. He has wanted to be a dentist since fourth grade. When he was younger, Tannen had trouble enunciating words, so when he told his parents he wanted to go into dentistry, they though he said dance history. So his parents were convinced he was interested in dance history for months.
Why he wants to be Homecoming king:
“In terms of Homecoming king, I think that the ability to represent yourself for something that’s more than just you is the biggest part of what it means to be Homecoming king,” Tannen said. “If anything, that’s what I’m most excited about — just being able to represent not only myself, but the cheer and mascots program entirely is just fantastic.”
Caroline Bartlett
Caroline Bartlett is from Boulder, Colorado, and studies elementary education. She is a member of the Chi Omega sorority, serves as the vice president of programming for the Panhellenic Council and was nominated for queen by Chain Gang Junior Honorary.
Bartlett hopes to return to Colorado for graduate school because she misses the nature and outdoors there.
However, her dream job is to be a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She is an extremely passionate Harry Potter fan and a proud Hufflepuff.
Why she wants to be Homecoming queen:
“I just wanted to be on court because I wanted a chance to represent the UA and meet people,” Bartlett said. “While it would be great to be queen, I think for me, I would feel really fulfilled just being on court, and just being able to meet so many new people is really amazing and fun so far.”
Karyn Honda
Karyn Honda is from Simi Valley, California, and studies communication. She works in Career Services as a peer educator chair and at Campus Recreation as a weight room monitor. She is also a member of Chi Omega, which nominated her for queen. She serves as the community outreach chair within the sorority.
Honda said she loves Mexican food, burritos in particular, and is a big fan of hot Cheetos.
Why she wants to be Homecoming queen:
“I think in general, any time that you’re nominated by an organization, I think it’s humbling to know that you make an impact within the community you’re a part of,” Honda said. “So just being able to be Homecoming queen and be the representation for women on campus at the UA and that you were able to make an impact on the community during your four years here, I just think it would be an honor, but overall it’s an honor to be on the court.”
Elizabeth Inch
Elizabeth Inch is from Los Angeles and is studying general studies with an emphasis on sports and society. She is a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority, which nominated her for queen.
Inch played volleyball here at the UA for three years before retiring and joining Delta Delta Delta. She said that she puts a lot of focus into her sorority’s St. Jude philanthropy.
Inch is a big movie fan and loves country music and two-stepping. Her most embarrassing memory is ripping her pants during a volleyball game and having to play through the entire game with it. She said that she will eat Cheeto Puffs at any time of the day and will never leave anywhere without chapstick in her pocket.
Why she wants to be Homecoming queen:
“I’ve had such an incredible time at the UA, and being on the Homecoming court has been the perfect way to celebrate my senior year,” Inch said. “I think that through all of my involvement, I want to be queen to serve as a positive role model for students as well as student athletes. I feel that I can be that role model as Homecoming queen, but ultimately it’s more than about the crown — it’s about leaving a positive legacy here at the UA.”
Jessie Roberts
Jessie Roberts is from Scottsdale, Arizona, and studies finance at the Eller College of Management. She is a member of the Delta Gamma sorority, a member of professional business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi, director of sales and trading for the Wall Street Scholars Program at Eller and president of the Investments Club, which nominated her for queen.
Roberts said she is absolutely obsessed with sushi and chocolate and would genuinely accept either as a form of payment.
Why she wants to be Homecoming queen:
“I think it’s all due to the UA and Eller and the students who mentored me along the way, and I love doing that for other students,” Roberts said. “That’s really what I would hope to achieve as Homecoming queen — is to really just relay that message and be that for those students.”
Mckenzie Trimble
Mckenzie Trimble is from Mesa, Arizona, and studies law. She is in the Alpha Phi sorority, which nominated her for queen.
After graduation, Trimble plans to attend law school. Outside of school and being a Wildcat, she loves her goldendoodle, Eubie.
For fun, Trimble quilts, knits and snowboards.
Why she wants to be Homecoming queen:
“I want to be Homecoming queen because I have so much love and gratitude for our university, the friends it’s introduced me to and the opportunities it’s given me,” Trimble said. “Representing the UA as Homecoming queen would be a delightful privilege.”
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