Three Rivers College had 24 student-athletes named to the NJCAA All Academic Team following the 2021-22 academic year. Among those student-athletes, eight earned first-team honors with a 4.0 GPA and another eight were named to the second-team with a GPA of 3.80-3.99. As a whole, Raiders student-athletes earned a 3.16 GPA with the baseball, softball and women’s basketball teams earning Academic Teams of the Year by having a team GPA above 3.00.
In addition, five students from the rodeo and cheerleading teams finished with a 3.60 GPA or higher. They are not included in the All Academic Team list since rodeo and cheerleading are not NJCAA sanctioned sports. The Raiders baseball team had 10 players earn All-Academic Team honors with Cade Cancilla, Braden Eftink and Daniel Vogt being named to the first-team. Zach Haygood, Auston Luna, Bryson Luna and Sam Pierce earned second-team honors while Hayes Austin, Will Hathcote and Kevin Spooner earned third-team honors. “I’m extremely proud of our players’ accomplishments in the classroom,” Three Rivers baseball coach Tyler Smith said in a statement. “Athletes are students first and having our kids excel in the classroom is a top priority for us.
Athletes putting themselves in a position for success after Three Rivers and baseball is something we value greatly.” Eight players from the softball team earned All Academic Team honors with four finishing with a 4.0 GPA. Halle Benskin, Jessica Hulsey, Kaitlyn Ragsdale and Abigail Wilson earned first-time honors while Alaney Moore and Audrey Rahlmann made second-team and Makayla Bryant and Kenlee McAuliffe earned third-team honors. Softball had a team GPA of 3.32 while going 33-15 on the field. “Most programs would love to have accolades like that,” Three Rivers softball coach Jeff Null said in a statement. “These ladies are building our program up year in and year out by getting it done on the field, in the classroom and in the community. “I can’t wait to see what the future holds with this foundation.”
For the athletes on the hardwood, Simon Akena earned third-team honors while the women’s basketball team had five players with All-Academic Team honors. Ahniya Melton was named to the first-team while Makenzi Davis and Gracie Price earned second team honors and Autumn Dodd and Jenna McMillen earned third-team honors. The Raiders were able to maintain a high level in the classroom while making history on the court going undefeated in the regular season and named the top team in the nation. “To be the No. 1 team in the nation for six week and be able to lock down in the classroom shows what kind of kids they are,” Three Rivers women’s basketball coach Alex Wiggs said in a statement. “Whenever they come here, the one thing we tell all of our players is that they are going to graduate.”
Daily American Republic