Eight ICC student-athletes earn NJCAA Academic honors
Adam Gore/ICC Sports Information Department

FULTON, MS – Itawamba Community College Athletic Director Carrie Ball-Williamson announced eight student-athletes earned National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Academic Student-Athlete Awards for their performances in the classroom.

"This is a great honor for all the hard work these student-athletes put into the school year," said Ball-Williamson. "A lot of people don't realize how much work and how many hours go into being successful in the classroom and in the sport they play."

Patrick Ballard (Shannon, tennis), David Matusiak (West Point, football) and Jake Smithey (Pontotoc, baseball) earned the Pinnacle Award for Excellence which is awarded to student-athletes that finish the school year with a 4.00 grade point average (GPA).

Hunter Groenveld (Hernando, soccer), Zack Randolph (Amory, baseball) and Susan Shea (Corinth, soccer) earned Superior Academic Achievement which is awarded to student-athletes that finish with a 3.80 to 3.99 GPA.

Stephen Montgomery (Pontotoc, tennis) and Holly Schlicht (Nettleton, softball) earned Exemplary Academic Excellence which is awarded to student-athletes that complete the school year with a 3.60 to 3.79 GPA.

"Academics are our top priority at ICC," Ball-Williamson said. "We want all of our teams to be successful and have great seasons, but we want our student-athletes to be successful in life and everything they do after ICC and a great education is a big part of making that happen."

The NJCAA Academic Student-Athlete Awards were previously known as NJCAA Academic All-American honors and only student-athletes that have completed three semesters are eligible for the awards.