This week, the Pioneer Spotlight shines on men's and women's golf. With two tournaments already played in the 2024 fall season for each team, Easton Hether and Jasmin Krishna will look to regularly lower their scores as tournaments continue for both Pioneer golf teams.
 

In just two seasons with the Pioneers, Easton Hether was named CCAA Men's Golf Freshman of the Year in 2022-23 and followed that up with a selection to the All-CCAA Team in 2023-24. Just in his freshman year, he was one of two Pioneers to qualify as an individual golfer for the NCAA Division II South Central/West Regionals. And one year to the day he carded a 64 in the second round of the Wildcat Classic.
 
Hether is proud to be a Pioneer. "Being a [Cal State East Bay] Pioneer to me means somebody that embodies confidence, resilience and passion in whatever goal is being pursued as well as being a leader and a forward thinker in the pursuit of success."
 
The golfer has goals on and off the course. "As a student-athlete a short term goal of mine is to at the end of the season be able to make it to National Championships with my team and a long term goal is to be able to play all four years at the college level and be able to graduate with my degree in business."
 
But being a student-athlete was never easy for the junior from Fairfield, California, as he is constantly balancing the challenges with a regiment. "A big significant challenge I have faced in my academic or athletic journey is time management. Balancing school, sport, exercise, social life, and personal life can be very difficult sometimes, and I often found it hard to give an equal percentage of my time to all of the things that make up life and to have a good balance. Things I did to overcome time management is being really rigid on how I spent my time throughout the day by using a checklist method that allowed me to track the things needed to be done and checking them off the list, almost giving a rewarded productive feeling that fulfills me. I never let a day go to waste by doing nothing with my time except by spending it in the objectives that need to be done to be able to achieve my goals."
 
Away from campus, Hether looks to his family for inspiration. "As a student athlete I am inspired by dedication and the sacrifice that is needed to be the best at the sport. My dad is somebody who inspires me daily, with his work ethic and always striving to be the best at what he does which I try to embody that everyday."
 

It only took one tournament as a Pioneer for Jasmin Krishna to let her golf talents show on the course. In her debut at Cal State East Bay, she was the medalist for the 2022 East Bay Invitational. Throughout her career, Krishna has been named CCAA Women's Golfer of the Week four times, was an All-CCAA Team honoree during her first season, an Academic All-America® selection as a sophomore and was on two consecutive Pioneer teams that reached the NCAA Division II National Championships.
 
"Being a Pioneer means embodying sportsmanship, commitment, and determination to help perform my best both on and off the golf course," says Krishna.
 
Krishna is not the first in her family to attend Cal State East Bay. Her father attended the university and became a certified public accountant. And the senior from Pleasanton hopes for the same in her professional career and in parallel, continue to play golf. "When I see my future, my career is a huge part of it. I want to get my CPA license and work at a Big Four accounting firm. I hope to continue to play golf for fun!"
 
Even before graduating from Cal State East Bay, Krishna already is an advocate for advancing the professional success of women in finance throughout the San Francisco Bay Area as she is a member of Financial Women of San Francisco.
 
Of course, there is more for Krishna off the golf course. "In my free time I love to travel. I have been to 20-plus countries, I love to adventure! My favorite place I've been is Switzerland!"