238 Hilltoppers Earn MEC Academic Honors
BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The West Liberty University athletic department once again led the way for all Mountain East Conference public universities on Wednesday when the league released the MEC All-Academic Team and MEC Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the 2020-21 spring sports season.
In addition, the Hilltoppers topped all MEC athletic departments with 136 MEC All-Academic Team selections. Charleston was second with 135 All-Academic Team honorees while West Virginia Wesleyan (121), Frostburg State (114), Fairmont State (113) and Wheeling (101) also cracked the century mark.
To qualify as a member of the All-MEC Academic Team, student-athletes were required to be a member of their team’s active roster and have a grade-point average of 3.70-4.00 in the semester of their championship season. Student-athletes who achieved GPAs ranging from 3.25 to 3.69 during the spring qualified for the Commissioner's Honor Roll.
Charleston led the conference with 267 combined honorees with West Liberty leading all public universities and placing second overall at 238. West Virginia Wesleyan (229) and Notre Dame (194) followed with Frostburg State (186) rounding out the top five.
Wednesday’s announcement caps another outstanding academic year for the Hilltopper athletic department. The 454 student-athletes from the university’s 18 intercollegiate sports combined for a 3.15 departmental GPA during the spring with 16 of the 18 teams achieving team GPAs of 3.00 or better. That marked the department's sixth consecutive semester with a combined GPA above 3.00.
Due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the MEC held conference championships in 21 sports during the spring. More than 2,200 MEC student-athletes were recognized with more than 1,200 being named to the MEC All-Academic Team.
This marks the seventh year for the MEC’s academic honors program, instituted by the league to honor its many student-athletes who maintain a high level of academic success.
Here’s a sport-by-sport list of West Liberty's 238 spring semester academic honorees:
2021 MEC ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM (3.70-4.00)
Men's Baseball (15)
John Barkley, Ryan Bernard, Tyler Blomquist, Ian Brady, Adam Campbell, Jarrett Delbrugge, Connor Ferguson, Justin Fike, Logan Grimm, Zachary Hawkins, Ty Helmke, Chad Matthus, Kyle Moore, Jonathan Rusin, Ross Salvatori
Men's Basketball (6)
Bryce Butler, Dalton Bolon, Evan Conley, Zachary Rasile, Patrick Robinson, Will Yoakum
Men's Cross Country/Track and Field (9)
Michael Harriman, Jordan Hosey, Miles Mazik, Danah Phillips, Brenden Sands, Jonathan Slusser, Jared Ullom, Quinton Williams, Colten Wright
Football (12)
Wyatt Gardner, Clay McDonald, Tyler Moler, Blake Neely, Francisco Pedrozo, Nathan Phillips, Kyle Ritz, Owen Rozanc, Parker Sherry, Brodrick Watson, Quinton Williams, Jayvon Wilson
Men's Soccer (5)
Mark Donnelly, Matthew Garcia, Jericho Givens, Spencer McDonald, Zach Rycroft
Men's Tennis (2)
Nicholas Millner, Anton Schulz
Men's Wrestling (10)
Connor Craig, Ronald D’Amico, Brett Goff, Cole Laya, Miles Mazik, Chance Morgan, Jett Pattison, Corey Secrist, Jacob Simpson, Matthew Simpson
Women's Acrobatics & Tumbling (7)
Abbey Bauer, Madison Estep, Laci Growe, Kenzie Kyle, Emily Matteson, Paige McGlothlin, Kira Newburn
Women's Basketball (6)
Grace Faulk, Lindsay Humbel, Jackie Kitts, Jenna Riccardo, Corinne Thomas, Audrey Tingle
Women's Cross Country/Track and Field (16)
Zayne Brakeall, Nichole Groseclose, Laci Growe, Emma Haley, Meghan Hawthorne, Grace Henley, Kelsi Hulit, Shania Keene, Hannah Kemp, Kennedy Martin, Madison McCartney, Mackenzie Rine, Lura Simons, Alexis Slusser, Abbe Stackpole, Aubree Story
Women's Soccer (13)
Zayne Brakeall, Kate Calissie, Millie Colbran, Juliana Haug, Anna Johnston, Olivia Montgomery, Lexie Mullen, Kaelyn Oskin, Caroline Stire, Kaitlyn Taylor, Claire Valentine, Anne Williams, Kassidy Wolfe
Women's Softball (18)
Makenzie Amend, Avery Becker, Katie Beeman, Riley Bennington, Katelynn Blair, Makayla Blair, Taylor Bonnett, Kat Donzella, Lauren Garcia, Savannah Holbrook, Kenzie, Holt, Sidney Little, Mahayla McCroskey, McKenzie Morrison, Laral Saunders, Taylor Scott, Grace Swigart, Madison Young
Women's Tennis (5)
Ishika Agarwal, Gemma Cliffe, Katie Loader, Alexandra Olson, Nathalia Valencia
Women's Volleyball (12)
Nina Billotto, Jenna Caskey, Madison Clayton, Katelynn Fritz, Laura Gamel, Faith Hayes, Renee Lemke, Braidyn Reed, Emily Reedy, Nyia Setla, Kaija Sydlowski, Ashton Wronikowski
x x x
2021 MEC COMMISSIONER’S ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL (3.25-3.69)
Men's Baseball (9)
Sam Aulick, Jacob Bolander, Casey Bonomo, Maceo Christmas, Colton Coss, Gregory Geis, Jacob Probst, Gaetan Sinisgalli
Men's Basketball (3)
Luke Dyer, Owen Hazelbaker, Luke Powell
Football (16)
William Billeter, Craig Bober, Maceo Christmas, Jesse Collins, Trent Crawford, Marshall Cross, Donte Davenport, Cody Enrietti, Kenyon Felder, Gage Fiore, Aidan Howard, Aaron Hudson, Spencer Hutchison, Timothy Lew, Devon McNutt, Austyn Todd
Men's Golf (4)
Austin Lis, Jon Moore, Howard Peterson, Brendan Vucelich
Men's Soccer (11)
Zak Campbell, Mychal Heath, Thomas Humphreys, Trevor Kessell, Arun Sankar, Aaron Saymansky, Danilo Tavares, Mikel Ubeda, Noah Underwood, Bernardo Vilchis, Joshua Yeaman
Men's Tennis (3)
Daisuke Aota, Gianluca Gerndt, Derek Roehner
Men's Cross Country/Track and Field (9)
Gary Braithwaite, Brody Cermak, Dylan Golden, Elian Lamar, Dillion Meintel, Adam O’Donnell, Ethan Secrist, Philip White, Cory Wyttenbach
Men's Wrestling (3)
Ty McGeary, Chase Morgan, Kade Zadylak
Women's Acrobatics & Tumbling (11)
Alavia Anderson, Kylee Buzzard, Nevaeh Crow, Katelyn Emborsky, Lexus Ficca, Lindsay Fries, Jenna Mankowski, Alexis Martin, Tianna Meyer, Olivia Miller, Vanessa Stanbro
Women's Basketball (4)
Olivia Belknap, Arriana Manzay, Karly McCutcheon, Tasia Staunton
Women's Golf (4)
Anna Griffith, Dezirae Middleton, Kailey Pettit, Alexis Ramby
Women's Soccer (6)
Sydney Davis, Grace Fodor, Claire Kelly, Alyssa Rhinaman, Rori Schreiber, Kayleigh Vaca
Women's Softball (9)
Conner Assif, Haley Collett, Riley Conkle, Julia Hahn, Anna Paterson, Lauryn Simmons, Madelyne VanMatre, Madelyn Weidner, Anna Welsh
Women's Tennis (2)
Luisa Agudelo, Anita Ponti
Women's Cross Country/Track and Field (9)
Hailey Carreon, Jamie Fogle, Caroline Hull, Hannah Larkey, Olivia Miller, Savannah Moorehead, Kaylee Savage, Bailee Upole, Ryan Wilson
Women's Volleyball (3)
Ruby Countryman, Kirsten Bogunovich, MacKenzie Daub