McLennan sets record for NJCAA academic awards, four teams receive honors

McLennan sets record for NJCAA academic awards, four teams receive honors
July 5, 2018

For the second consecutive year, athletes from five McLennan Community College teams combined to set a new school record for NJCAA All-Academic Student-Athlete Award recipients. McLennan placed 37 student-athletes on the 2017-18 list, surpassing the record of 32 set in 2016-17. McLennan's number of honorees was the second-highest among NJCAA schools in Texas. Tyler Junior College led the way with 46 honorees.

A total of 6,306 student-athletes from across the nation were named among the three levels of honorees: First Team (4.0 GPA), Second Team (3.80-3.99 GPA) and Third Team (3.60-3.79 GPA).

McLennan placed eight athletes on the First Team, 15 on the Second Team and 14 on the Third Team. The baseball squad led the McLennan teams with 18 honorees while the softball team added six, men's golf and women's golf had five each, and women's basketball had three.

McLennan's honorees included:
First Team: Shane Daughety (baseball), Levi David (baseball), Alex DeLeon (baseball), Caden Harris (baseball), Ariana Hernandez (softball), Brendan Johnson (men's golf), Jackson Nichols (baseball) and Alejandra Rodriguez (women's golf)

Second Team: Mitchell Caskey (baseball), Patrickia Daily (women's basketball), Justin Elizondo (baseball), Logan Freeman (baseball), Peyton Grassanovits (baseball), Connor Herriage (baseball), Madison Hill (softball), Andrew Lane (men's golf), July Latimer (men's golf), Trent Leffingwell (men's golf), Grant Miller (baseball), Aidan Shepardson (baseball), Payton Strambler (baseball), Caroline Traylor (women's golf) and Jordan Yeatts (baseball)

Third Team: Charley Avery (softball), Daniel Cole (baseball), Makenna Davidson (women's golf), Brooks Embry (baseball), Elin Eriksson (women's golf), Emily Gray (softball), Colandria Haynes (women's basketball), Joely Henderson (women's golf), KeeKee Nowlin (women's basketball), Griffin Paxton (baseball), Kaitlin Richards (softball), Nick Thornquist (baseball), Judd Tilson (men's golf) and Maddie Warhol (softball)

In addition, four McLennan teams earned 2017-18 Academic Team of the Year Honorable Mention recognition for their team grade-point average: women's golf (3.59) baseball (3.51), men's golf (3.47) and softball (3.34).