Athletes & teams earn NJCAA recognition

Five athletic teams and 62 student-athletes at Kankakee Community College have earned recognition from the NJCAA for academic achievements during the 2022-23 academic year.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the profound accomplishment of our five teams who have attained Academic All-American status this year, with our women’s soccer team making the list for the first time in our institution’s history,” said Bryce Shafer, KCC’s athletic director. “(It) represents the best of what KCC athletics stand for: excellence and development on and off the field or court.”

The minimum team grade point average requirement is 3.0 to receive recognition. KCC’s teams qualifying for NJCAA All-Academic Team status are:

• Women’s Soccer, 3.39 team GPA and 13 students with GPAs above 3.0
• Softball, 3.29 team GPA and 11 students with GPAs above 3.0
• Volleyball, 3.23 team GPA and 8 students with GPAs above 3.0
• Men’s Soccer, 3.15 team GPA and 10 students with GPAs above 3.0
• Baseball, 3.0 team GPA and 20 students with GPAs above 3.0

KCC’s men’s soccer team is the only NJCAA Region 4 team to be an All-Academic Team. Among the four women’s soccer teams from NJCAA Region 4 which earned the academic honor, the Cavaliers have the highest overall GPA.

“Enough cannot be said about the academic performance of both men’s and women’s soccer teams,” said head coach Mike Barclay. “To have both teams receive this recognition in the same year, and the top spot for our region in each sport, is amazing.”

“We set a goal at the beginning of the year to repeat as a team academic All-American,” said Keith Cooper, head softball coach. “The ladies were determined to achieve that goal and worked extremely hard to accomplish it. We are very proud of the championship mentality and the work they had both in the classroom and on the field.”

“One of our core goals every year as a baseball team is to attain an average GPA of 3.0,” said Shafer, who also serves as the head baseball coach. “We firmly believe that the pursuit of development and excellence on the field and in the classroom, shapes true champions.

Thirty KCC student-athletes received NJCAA honors for academic achievement during the 2022-23 school year.

The All-Academic First Team members, with a 4.0 grade point average, are: Jeannette Carrington of Auburn, Women’s Soccer; Paxtyn Hicks of Galveston, Ind., Softball; Josh Holmes of Chicago, Men’s Basketball; and Mya Ramdoo of St. James, Trinidad, Women’s Soccer.

The All-Academic Second Team members, with grade point averages between 3.80-3.99, are: Kaitlyn Marks of Frankfort, Softball; Mia Robbins of Manteno, Women’s Soccer; Jamonte Smith of Roanoke, VA, Men’s Basketball; Tess Wallace of Bradley, Women’s Soccer; and Luke Wolff of Joliet, Baseball.

The All-Academic Third Team members, with grade point averages of 3.60-3.79, are: Baylee Anderson of Erie, Volleyball; Gianna Basile of Bourbonnais, Volleyball; Brooke Brian of Edmonton, Alberta, Softball; Nathaniel Brown of Maraval, Trinidad, Men’s Soccer; Tori Budde of Effingham, Softball; Mariel Camargo of Kankakee, Women’s Soccer; Malachai Daniels of Tunapuna, Trinidad, Men’s Soccer; Myllena De Sousa of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Women’s Basketball; Matt Guiney of Bradley, Men’s Soccer; Connor Janik of Frankfort, Baseball; Payton Kohl of Bourbonnais, Volleyball; Aiyanna Lopez of Kankakee, Women’s Soccer; Jose Pizano of St. Anne, Men’s Soccer; Sam Porras of Bradley, Women’s Soccer; Danny Puplava of Portage, Ind., Baseball; Marc Robertson of Caroni, Trinidad, Men’s Soccer; Danny Sorich of Bradley, Men’s Soccer; Hayden Stork of Danvers, Baseball; Chris Suchoski of Plainfield, Baseball; Makenzie Tome of Rantoul, Softball; and Jaelyn Wiers of Morris, Softball.

The overall grade point average of KCC student-athletes was 3.1 for the year.

More information about KCC athletics is at athletics.kcc.edu.