MCC Athletics Honored for Academic Achievements

From School Reports

  

The Meridian Community College athletic department was recently honored with several awards from the NJCAA for its accomplishments in the classroom during the 2015-2016 academic year. MCC had 34 athletes receive individual awards and four teams also received national recognition from the NJCAA in its recent release. 

The NJCAA recognized a record-number 4,587 student-athletes for their success in the classroom and 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 the previous mark of 3.31 percent set last year.

Honoring academic performance throughout each individual’s collegiate career, there are three classifications of the NJCAA Academic Student-Athlete Awards based on the following cumulative GPA qualifications: Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence: 4.00 GPA, Superior Academic Achievement Award: 3.80-3.99 GPA, and the Exemplary Academic Achievement Award: 3.60-3.79 GPA.

The junior colleges in the state of Mississippi garnered 23 Pinnacle awards combined – the most in the country – to go along with 18 Superior and 19 Exemplary. 

Nine athletes from MCC were named Pinnacle winners and those include: Abagail Pate (Soccer), Chanler Pickering (Soccer), Jessica Hurley (Soccer), Taylor Gray (Soccer), Baylor Obert (Baseball), Hayden Hill (Tennis), John Champion (Tennis), Noah James (Tennis), and Thomas Harrington (Tennis).

13 athletes from MCC were named Superior winners and those include: Abbie Pope (Soccer), Angela Keen (Soccer), Emily Brewer (Soccer), Heather Harwell (Soccer), Mary Nelson (Soccer), Jordyn Hull (Soccer & Tennis), Alexander Vaughn (Tennis), Grant Renegar (Golf), Hunter Mullis (Baseball), Matt Berler (Baseball), Spencer Price (Baseball), Eason Weeks (Baseball), and Taylor Miller (Tennis).

The final award list was the winners of the Exemplary Award and 12 MCC athletes were named which included: Clayton Gray (Golf), Daniel Hill (Baseball), Jami Daugherty (Tennis), Jason Pimenta (Tennis), Kyra Holway (Tennis), Lacy Billings (Soccer), Madison Drummond (Soccer), Owen Patterson (Golf), Paige Gibson (Tennis), Regan Dupre (Soccer), Lance Strickland (Golf), and Shelby Zachry (Tennis).

The MCC women’s soccer finished with the highest GPA of all of the athletic teams at MCC with a team mark of 3.60 which was the highest among all soccer programs in the country which earned the squad an Honorable Mention Award from the NJCAA. The MCC baseball team also received an Honorable Mention Award from the NJCAA by finishing with a team GPA of 3.24 which ranked among the top 15 in the nation and was the third highest in the state of Mississippi among all junior colleges. The MCC golf team was also named an Honorable Mention Award recipient by finishing with a team GPA of 3.43 which was ranked seventh in the nation and second overall in Mississippi. The MCC women’s tennis team was the final squad to be awarded with an Honorable Mention Award from the NJCAA by finishing with a team GPA of 3.59 which was ranked fourth in the state of Mississippi and fifth nationally.