More than 50 KCC student athletes earn postseason academic awards

Posted on by Kellogg Community College

More than 50 individual student athletes from Kellogg Community College and two KCC athletic teams received postseason academic awards for excellence in the classroom during the 2023-24 academic year.

Athletes from all nine KCC teams – baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s bowling, men’s and women’s cross country, women’s soccer and women’s volleyball – are represented on this year’s postseason academic awards roster.

Honors awarded to KCC student athletes for their academic performance include the following awards:

  • The KCC Outstanding Scholar Athlete of the Year Award, for which a student athlete must demonstrate outstanding academic achievement as well as athletic success, exhibiting an outstanding GPA and more than 60 credit hours completed. The winners are nominated by their coaches. Just one female and one male scholar athlete are chosen for the award each year.
  • The Michigan Community College Athletic Association Academic All-Conference Award, for which a student athlete must have completed at least 24 credit hours in the last academic year and have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
  • The Academic All-MCCAA Award, for which a student athlete must have completed at least 24 credit hours in the last academic year and have a cumulative GPA of 3.20 or higher.
  • The National Junior College Athletic Association All-Academic Third Team Award, for which a student athlete must have completed at least 24 credit hours in the last academic year and have a cumulative GPA between 3.60 and 3.79.
  • The NJCAA All-Academic Second Team Award, for which a student athlete must have completed at least 24 credit hours in the last academic year and have a cumulative GPA between 3.80 and 3.99.
  • The NJCAA All-Academic First Team Award, for which a student athlete must have completed at least 24 credit hours in the last academic year and have a cumulative GPA of 4.0.

Additionally, MCCAA All-Academic Team and NJCAA Academic Team of the Year honors were awarded to teams with a cumulative team GPA of 3.0 or higher. KCC’s baseball (3.19 GPA) and women’s soccer (3.05) teams were named to both lists.

One Bruin – KCC baseball sophomore infielder Aaron Piasecki – also earned the MCCAA’s coveted Dick Shilts Male Student-Athlete of the Year award, which recognizes just one male and female student-athlete from the entire MCCAA “who excels in their sport, in the classroom and in co-curricular activities,” according to the MCCAA.

Baseball

  • Connor Apligian, of Northville, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award
  • Gavin Beuter, of Three Rivers, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team
  • William Churchill, of Rochester Hills,MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award
  • Amare Curran, of Madison Heights,MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award
  • Brady Doelle, of Rochester, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
  • Kooper Etheridge, of Battle Creek, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic First Team
  • Drew Ferguson, of Rockford, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
  • Kyle Harris, of Woodhaven, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
  • Lofton Harris, of St. Clair Shores, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
  • Jackson Haywood, of Battle Creek, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award
  • Cody Hultink, of Battle Creek, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team
  • Jake Ickes, of Dowagiac, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic First Team
  • Rhys Jenkyn, of London, Ontario, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award
  • Joseph Lulgjuraj, of Rochester Hills, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award
  • Cole Mason, of Portage, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team
  • Joshua Midbo, of Chesterfield, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic First Team
  • Diego Pena, of Muskegon, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award
  • Aaron Piasecki, of Muskegon, KCC Outstanding Male Scholar Athlete of the Year, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team, Dick Shilts Male Student-Athlete of the Year
  • Henry Stempky, of Cheboygan, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team
  • Caleb Williams, of Cheboygan, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team
  • Hayden Winger, of Jenison, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award
  • David Zilch, of Howell, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team

Men’s Basketball

  • Dahntae Bailey, of Mendon, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
  • Jakeem Cole, of Chicago, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team

Women’s Basketball

  • Alana Compton, of Middleville, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award
  • Lillian Fulcher, of Paw Paw, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award
  • Antonia Keith, of Charlotte, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award
  • Corrin Replogle, of Middleville, KCC Outstanding Female Scholar Athlete of the Year, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team
  • Mary Whitmore, of Dowling, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team

Men’s Bowling

  • Zachary LaPalme, of Battle Creek, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award

Women’s Bowling

  • Brooklyn Page, of Three Rivers, MCCAA Academic All-Conference

Men’s Cross Country

  • Curtis Falbe, of Battle Creek, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team
  • Maxwell LaDuke, of Battle Creek, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award
  • Alex Steward, of Hastings, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award

Women’s Cross Country

  • Megan Jackson, of Burr Oak, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team
  • Alexia Kryszewski, of Battle Creek, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic First Team
  • Rayna Richardson, of Austin, Texas, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic First Team

Women’s Soccer

  • Berlynn Conley, of Plainwell, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
  • Jessie Cummins, of Battle Creek, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team
  • Aubrie Evans, of Gobles, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award
  • Airanna Griecci, of Chelsea, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team
  • Lucy Lampart, of Kalamazoo, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team
  • Rayna Richardson, of Austin, Texas, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic First Team
  • Sophia Saunders, of Otsego, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team
  • Lydia Schamanek, of Cadillac, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic First Team
  • Annabelle Smith, of Mount Pleasant, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
  • Jenna Vogel, of Battle Creek,MCCAA Academic All-Conference
  • Kayla Vogel, of Battle Creek, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team

Women’s Volleyball

  • Jordyn Arnold, of Mattawan, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team
  • Alaina Brubaker, of Athens, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team
  • Jillian Clary, of Tecumseh, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award
  • Alana Compton, of Middleville, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award
  • Kate Doyle, of Battle Creek, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team
  • Antonia Keith, of Charlotte, MCCAA Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA Award
  • Gabrianna Kringle, of Kalamazoo, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
  • Julia May, of Charlotte, MCCAA Academic All-Conference

High-resolution photographs of each student athlete noted above can be downloaded from kelloggbruins.com or requested by emailing KCC Marketing Director Simon A. Thalmann at thalmanns@kellogg.edu.

For more news about Kellogg Community College, view our latest press releases online at https://daily.kellogg.edu/category/news-releases.