More than 60 individual student athletes from Kellogg Community College and four KCC athletic teams earned postseason academic awards for excellence in the classroom during the 2025-26 academic year.
Awards include honors from the National Junior College Athletic Association and Michigan Community College Athletic Association, as well as Scholar Athlete of the Year awards from KCC’s Student Affairs Division.
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 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.
- 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 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 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 MCCAA 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 to 3.199.
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 (3.52 GPA), women’s soccer (3.16 GPA), women’s basketball (3.14 GPA) and women’s cross country (3.03 GPA) teams, pictured above, were named to both lists.
Baseball
- Eduardo “Lalo” Aguirre, of Olivet, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Isaiah Anderson, of Kalamazoo, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Payton Bookwalter, of Edwardsburg, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Owen Brunsting, of Grand Haven, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Daniel Calhoun, of Portage, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
- Amare Curran, of Madison Heights, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
- Gavin Engelsman, of Rockford, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Fischer Holmes, of Schoolcraft, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
- Ty Jenkins, of Sterling Heights, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Caleb Kidd, of Trenton, NJCAA All-Academic First Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Gerry Klos, of Allen Park, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Jacob Kucharczyk, of Battle Creek, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Zach Kucharczyk, of Battle Creek, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Kai McEachern, of Birmingham, NJCAA All-Academic First Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Mason Meads, of Chelsea, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Joshua Midbo, of Chesterfield, NJCAA All-Academic First Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Tylor Morehouse, of Taylor, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Cayden Nieto, of Midland, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Tanner Olepa, of Canton, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Jaden Oliver, of Almont, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- JT Sawdon, of Rochester, NJCAA All-Academic First Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award, KCC Outstanding Male Scholar Athlete Award
- Bradyen Simon, of Portland, NJCAA All-Academic First Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Luke Soper, of Horton, NJCAA All-Academic First Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Justin St. Antoine, of Grand Rapids, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Jake Stickler, of Allen Park, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Tyler Wolfersberger, of Battle Creek, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Ryan Yankowich, of Toronto, NJCAA All-Academic First Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
Men’s Basketball
- Nicholas Downs, of Coldwater, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Damion Green-Richardson, of Indianapolis, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
- William Owens, of South Bend, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Johnpaul Rose, of Three Rivers, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Marvin Schindler, of South Bend, Academic All-MCCAA Award
Women’s Basketball
- Samantha Atkinson, of Flint, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Nia Baldwin, of Saginaw, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Dayshauna Crowley, of South Haven, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
- Miriam Hibbard, of East Leroy, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
- Haylie Kinney, of Battle Creek, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Alyssa McCavit, of Quincy, NJCAA All-Academic First Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Imani McCray, of Battle Creek, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Nora VanWagner, of Coldwater, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Aiyana Willis, of Saginaw, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
Men’s Bowling
- Carter Casarez, of Marshall, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
Women’s Bowling
- Emily Lemon, of Marshall, Academic All-MCCAA Award
Men’s Cross Country
- Julian Borst, of Kalamazoo, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Carter Casarez, of Marshall, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Elliot Ormsby, of Battle Creek, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
Women’s Cross Country
- Chloe Badger, of East Leroy, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Alicyn Gleesing, of Plainwell, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Jenna Lumsden, of Marshall, NJCAA All-Academic First Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
Women’s Soccer
- Evelyn Alward, of Kalamazoo, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Katie Arnold, of Portage, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Kirra Budreau, of Battle Creek, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Aubrie Evans, of Gobles, NJCAA All-Academic First Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award, KCC Outstanding Female Scholar Athlete Award
- Taylor Havilar, of Richland, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Emma Hawkins, of Durand, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Miriam Hibbard, of Battle Creek, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
- Emily Katz, of Battle Creek, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Haylie Kinney, of Battle Creek, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Reese Lessig, of Battle Creek, NJCAA All-Academic First Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Kaeli Mason, of Portage, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Paige McDonald, of Three Rivers, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Kendall Wank, of Augusta, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
Women’s Volleyball
- Makenzee Grimm, of Battle Creek, NJCAA All-Academic First Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Laney Johnson, of Houghton, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
- Brooke Koskela, of Hancock, NJCAA All-Academic First Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
- Caliey Masserang, of Cadillac, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
- Lylah Parrish, of Climax, MCCAA Academic All-Conference
- MacKenzy Warner, of Clare, NJCAA All-Academic Third Team, Academic All-MCCAA Award
High-resolution photographs of each student athlete noted above can be downloaded at 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.
