MCC Indians earn more than 40 national academic honors

McCOOK, Neb. — Forty-two McCook Community College student-athletes have been recognized by the National Junior College Athletic Association for their efforts in the classroom. They were selected for one of three 2023-24 All-Academic teams.

“The main goal we have here at McCook is to help our student-athletes better themselves through education. Succeeding in the classroom is one of the ways that we feel they can make a huge step into their future,” said MCC Athletic Director Jon Olsen, “We feel extremely proud of all of the students who excelled at the level to be recognized by the NJCAA, both those as individuals as well as the teams that qualified.”

Seven MCC student-athletes were named to the all-academic first team, 20 were named to the second team and 15 received third-team status.

In addition to individual honors, four of MCC’s six athletic teams had team grade-point averages higher than 3.0 earning the NJCAA designations as Academic Teams of the Year honors.

Women’s basketball had a composite team GPA of 3.64 which was seventh best among 162 Division 1 junior college teams. Volleyball also compiled a 3.64 team GPA.

The MCC baseball team achieved a 3.34 team GPA and Softball had a 3.29 team GPA.

In addition to the NJCAA academic designations 49 MCC student-athletes were named to the 2023-2024Academic All-Region IX men’s and women’s teams.

For this designation student athletes must have completed a minimum of 24 semester hours and earn GPA’s greater than 3.25.

Those named to a 2023-24 All-Academic Team for achieving a GPA of 3.6 or higher are:

NJCAA All-Academic First Team: 4.0 GPA

Carlota Alonso, freshman, women’s basketball

Greta Bolognini, sophomore, volleyball

Jackson Finder, sophomore, baseball

Nathan Hutchison, freshman, baseball

Kalyn Jackson, sophomore, softball

Michael Quick, sophomore, baseball

Hanne Verdaguer, freshman, women’s basketball

NJCAA All-Academic Second Team: 3.8-3.99 GPA

Angela Banzet, freshman, softball

Andrew Brown, freshman, golf

Kyler Cox, freshman, baseball

Rebecca Dunn, sophomore, women’s basketball

Jordan Duzenack, sophomore, volleyball

Anna Elliott, freshman, softball

Leif Friedrich, freshman, baseball

Natalie Harmata, sophomore, women’s basketball

Aiden Johnson, sophomore, baseball

Lachlan Jones, freshman, baseball

Sadie Kahl, freshman, softball

Jake Quinlivan, sophomore, baseball

Eli Schaeffer, sophomore, baseball

Jason Serafinchon, sophomore, baseball

Maddox Shaver, freshman, baseball

Kaylee Smith, freshman, softball

Rowen Tribelhorn, freshman, volleyball

Audra Vine, sophomore, women’s basketball

Jackson Yeager, sophomore, baseball

Ebba Zalamans, sophomore, women’s basketball

NJCAA All-Academic Third Team: 3.6-3.79 GPA

Caylin Barnett, freshman, volleyball

Blake Benallo, sophomore, baseball

Luke Bies, sophomore, baseball

Romina Martinez Castro, freshman, volleyball

Blake Dale, sophomore, baseball

Will Edwards, sophomore, baseball

Ayana Goodwin, freshman, softball

Noa Iglesias Chorda, sophomore, women’s basketball

Josh Jedretich, sophomore, baseball

Jesse Jerome, sophomore, volleyball

Fernanda Merancio, sophomore, volleyball

Graci Nelson, sophomore, softball

Emerie Rios, sophomore, volleyball

Suzan Sisman, sophomore, women’s basketball

Gracen Tuttle, sophomore, volleyball

To view a full list of all student-athlete award winners, visit: NJCAA All-Academic Awards

2023-2024 ACADEMIC ALL-REGION IX MEN’S TEAM:

Men’s Basketball: Thabo Manyere, Bryan Akanmu

Men’s Golf: Andrew Brown

Baseball: Aiden Johnson, Blake Benallo, Blake Dale, Cory Wouters, Eli Schaeffer, Jackson Finder, Jackson Yeager, Jake Quinlivan, Jason Serafinchon, Josh Jedretich, Lachlan Jones, Michael Quick, Nathan Hutchison, Will Edwards, Zeke Minic, Kyler Cox, Leif Friedrich, Luke Bies, Maddox Shaver and Wrigley Strong.

2023-2024 ACADEMIC ALL-REGION IX WOMEN’S TEAM:

Women’s Basketball: Audra Vine, Carlota Alonso, Ebba Zalamans, Hanne Verdaguer, Natalie Harmata, Noa Iglesias Chorda, Rebecca Dunn, Suzan Sisman

Volleyball: Caylin Barnett, Emerie Rios, Fernanda Merancio, Greta Bolognini, Jordan Duzenack, Romina Castro, Rowen Tribelhorn

Softball: Haylee Anguiano, Angela Banzet, Brylee Dean, Ayana Goodwin, Kalyn Jackson, Sadie Kahl, Alexis Knapp, Kaylee Smith, Andie Suhai, Graci Nelson, Anna Elliott.