June 22, 2022, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Grand Rapids Community College women’s cross country team members had a fantastic year in competition – and in the classroom, too.
The women’s cross country team -- which finished seventh in the NJCAA D2 National Championships -- compiled a collective grade point average of 3.52, the sixth-highest of any team in any sport competing in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association, which announced academic awards this week.
The GRCC volleyball team, with a 3.23 GPA, and the golf team, with a 3.20 GPA, were also saluted by the MCCAA for having grade point averages above 3.0.
“I’m proud of what our student-athletes accomplished,” Athletic Director Lauren Ferullo said. “Our coaches and staff make academic success a priority and our students work hard. That is reflected in these honors. We’re preparing them for long-term success, beyond their playing days.”
The MCCAA honors student-athletes by naming them with Academic All-Conference and Academic All-MCCAA awards, in addition to MCCAA All-Academic Team awards.
To earn MCCAA Academic All-Conference honors, student-athletes must earn at least 24 credits with a 3.0 GPA or higher. For Academic All-MCCAA honors, a student-athlete must earn at least 24 credits with a 3.2 GPA. For a team to be recognized as an MCCAA All-Academic Team, teams must earn a cumulative 3.0 GPA.
All of the GRCC teams competing this past year had at least one student-athlete recognized on the MCCAA Academic All-Conference team, with a total of 33 student-athletes. There are 27 student-athletes recognized for earning Academic All-MCCAA honors.
Earning MCCAA Academic All-Conference Academic awards are: Austyn Adams, Blake Waibel, Brady Owen, Caden Van De Burg, Caleb Engelsman, Dylan Chargo, Joe Hoeks, and Ryan Dykstra of the baseball team.
Also earning the honor are Brockton Kohler and Myron Brewer of the men’s basketball team; Ashton Brennan, Caleb Peterson, Christian Martinez-Ramos, Craig Fuller, Joshua Kipkoech, and Zachary Richards of the men’s cross country team; and Arie Jackman, Bradley Vandenhout, and Matthew DenHartigh of the golf team.
Also named to the Academic All-Conference team are Alena Visnovsky, Annie Holesinger, Audrey Gower, Audrey Torres, Kara Hecht, Ola Nowak, and Zari Kruger of the volleyball team; Karissa Ferry, who played both volleyball and basketball; Marlene Bussler and Sally Merrill of the women’s basketball team; and Alex Webster, Allison Hoop, Audrey Meyering, and Rose Meyer of the women’s cross country team.
Earning All-MCCAA Academic awards are Adams, Weibel, Owen, Van De Burg, Engelsman, Chargo, Hoeks, Dykstra, Kohler, Brewer, Peterson, Fuller, Jackman, Vandenhout, DenHartigh, Visnovsky, Holesinger, Gower, Torres, Hecht, Nowak, Kruger, Ferry, Bussler, Hoop, Meyering, and Meyer.