WALLACE STATE SPORTS: Lions have school-record 35 student-athletes recognized by NJCAA for academic achievements

Published 3:36 pm Tuesday, July 5, 2016

HANCEVILLE — Wallace State had a school-record 35 student-athletes recognized Tuesday as National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Athletes of Distinction for their 2015-16 academic achievements, including seven acknowledged as Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence recipients for finishing with a 4.0 GPA.

Wallace State softball had four Pinnacle Award honorees: Julia Dailey, Shelby Brown, Sarah Ellen Battles and Megan Quimby.

Wallace State baseball’s Jake Nelson and Braxton Light garnered Pinnacle Award accolades, as did Morgan Higgins of the women’s basketball team.

The Lions had 10 players named Superior Academic Achievement winners for compiling GPAs between 3.80-3.99 during the 2015-16 academic year: women’s basketball’s Hannah Vest, Sarah Reid and Alex Lowery, men’s golf’s Eli Marty and Jesse Childress, volleyball’s Jamie Pittman and Stephanie Eckerd, softball’s Erin Benson and Ashton Gaddy, and baseball’s Will Eiland.

Wallace State had 18 players named Exemplary Academic Achievement recipients for sporting GPAs between 3.60-3.79, including nine from the baseball team: Lance Cleveland, Maison Goodwin, Brantley Ballenger, Garrett Suchey, Johnny Sklopan, Jonathan Smith, Lane Meyer and Peyton Hayes. 

Alexandra Gamble, MaKenzie Bearden and Mallory Patterson achieved Exemplary status from the volleyball team, Jaylen McCoy, Kylen Butler, Xavier McCoy and LaParis Hall from the men’s basketball team, Kayla Byrd and Molli Garcia from the softball team, and Taylor Ruehl from the women’s golf team.

Marty is a Good Hope graduate, while Cleveland, Goodwin and Ruehl all hail from Cullman High. 

The NJCAA recognized a record-number 4,587 student-athletes for their success in the classroom Tuesday with the presentation of the 2015-16 NJCAA Academic Student-Athlete Awards. Of the 57,472 student-athletes that participated in the NJCAA during the 2015-16 academic year, 7.98 percent earned national academic honors — over double last year’s 3.31 percent.

A record 663 student-athletes were presented the Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence. A total of 1,610 earned the Superior Academic Achievement Award, while an additional 2,314 received the Exemplary Academic Achievement Award. Both were records.