Kellogg Community College’s baseball team finished the 2013-14 season tied for the 10th highest GPA out of more than 400 National Junior College Athletic Association baseball teams in the nation.
KCC’s team was named a Michigan Community College Athletic Association All-Academic Team and NJCAA All-Academic Team when the academic award winners for both organizations were announced last week. To qualify for the awards, a team must have a team GPA average higher than 3.0; the Bruins had a team GPA of 3.28.
Sixteen individual KCC student-athletes were also awarded academic honors for their work in the classroom during the 2013-14 academic year. Individual student-athletes honored include:
- KCC baseball freshman Chad Carson (Attica/Lapeer East High School) earned the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award and Academic All-MCCAA honors.
- KCC baseball sophomore Max Drenth (Decatur/Decatur High School) was awarded the NJCAA Pinnacle Award for Academic Achievement and earned the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award and Academic All-MCCAA honors.
- KCC softball freshman Mary Emington (Cadillac/Cadillac High School) was awarded the NJCAA Award for Exemplary Academic Achievement and earned the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award and Academic All-MCCAA honors.
- KCC softball freshman Emily Greene (Burr Oak/Burr Oak High School) earned the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award and Academic All-MCCAA honors.
- KCC baseball sophomore Kameron Joostberns (Battle Creek/Harper Creek High School) earned the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award and Academic All-MCCAA honors.
- KCC baseball sophomore Tyler Kirkland (Sault Ste. Marie/Sault Area High School) earned the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award and Academic All-MCCAA honors.
- KCC women’s volleyball sophomore Cortney Pipher (Battle Creek/Lakeview High School) earned the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award.
- KCC baseball sophomore Steve Remesnik (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll High School) earned the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award and Academic All-MCCAA honors.
- KCC women’s soccer freshman Katherine Romeo (Hartford/Hartford High School) earned the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award and Academic All-MCCAA honors.
- KCC baseball sophomore Dayne San Miguel (Wheeler/Breckenridge High School) was awarded the NJCAA Award for Exemplary Academic Achievement and earned the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award and Academic All-MCCAA honors.
- KCC softball freshman Anorah Seita (Battle Creek/Galesburg High School) was awarded the NJCAA Award for Exemplary Academic Achievement and earned the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award and Academic All-MCCAA honors.
- KCC baseball freshman Scott Snow (Otsego/Otsego High School) earned the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award and Academic All-MCCAA honors.
- KCC baseball sophomore Ben Spieldenner (Vicksburg/Vicksburg High School) earned the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award and Academic All-MCCAA honors.
- KCC women’s soccer sophomore Taylor Underhill (Paw Paw/Paw Paw High School) earned the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award and Academic All-MCCAA honors.
- KCC women’s volleyball sophomore Tara VanDenberg (Battle Creek/Pennfield High School) earned the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award.
- KCC women’s volleyball sophomore Jessica Woods (Marshall/Marshall High School) earned the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award and Academic All-MCCAA honors.
To qualify for the NJCAA Pinnacle Award, a student-athlete must have at least 45 credits with a 4.0 GPA. To qualify for the NJCAA Exemplary Academic Achievement award, a student-athlete must have at least 45 credits and a GPA between 3.6 and 3.79.
According to the NJCAA, just 3.08 percent of 58,446 NJCAA student-athletes – or 1,799 – were recognized with academic awards for their achievements in the classroom this year; just 171 student-athletes were recognized with Pinnacle awards.
To qualify for the MCCAA Academic All-Conference Award, a student-athlete must have at least 36 credits with a 3.0 GPA or higher. To qualify for the MCCAA Academic All-MCCAA honors, a student-athlete must have at least 36 credits with a 3.2 GPA or higher.
Tom Shaw, director of Athletics and Physical Education at KCC, said the College takes prides itself in seeing student-athletes achieve excellence in the classroom.
“Our student-athlete award winners are what the Bruins are all about – athletic opportunity and academic excellence,” Shaw said. “KCC continues to provide our service area with excellent educated future leaders.”
For more information about athletics at KCC, visit www.kellogg.edu/athletics.
For more news about Kellogg Community College, view our latest news releases online at daily.kellogg.edu/category/news-releases.