Leesburg, Fla. – Academics are always at the forefront of athletics at Lake-Sumter State College and despite the circumstances surrounding the pandemic, 2019-20 was no different.
Baseball, beach volleyball, softball and indoor volleyball all achieved NJCAA All-Academic Team status with team GPA's at 3.00 or higher. After their inaugural season, beach volleyball was honored as the top performing program in their respective sport in the classroom throughout the country. Their 3.44 team GPA was tops in the nation.
A department record 19 student-athletes earned NJCAA All-Academic Awards as announced by the NJCAA this past month. Softball led the way with eight All-Academic Awards, including First-Team members, Jennifer Bryant, Cissy Doolittle, Emily Kolwicz and Brittany Shirley. While participating in both indoor and beach volleyball, Amber Schwartz was also recognized as a First-Team selection.
Second-Team members included: Ian Brown and Luke Brown (baseball), Genesis Aviles (softball), and Hailey Franklin (beach/indoor volleyball). The Third-Team selections were made up of: Tayln Allard, Macey McGinnes, Kalei Myer (beach/indoor volleyball), Katie Johnson, Kierstyn Kohlmaier, Jasmine Lara (softball), Evan Badger, Naphis Llanos, Aaron Perry (baseball) and Alex Croy (men's cross country).
Having 19 student-athletes earn such high accolades despite all classes in the spring moving to online is a testament to the commitment to the classroom that these individuals have. No one was prepared for the challenges that everyone across the country found themselves in last spring. We congratulate not only these student-athletes, but the professors, instructors, IT departments, tutors and everyone who made immediate online education a possibility.