PJC athletes and baseball team receive national academic honors
Published or Revised August 09, 2021
Paris Junior College athletes earned both individual and team academic honors from the National Junior College Athletic Association.
Despite the difficulties this year from the COVID-19 pandemic, 9,555 student-athletes from around the nation achieved a 3.60 GPA or higher. Team-wide honors came to the PJC baseball team with a 3.8 GPA, an improvement over last year's GPA of 3.53. Again, PJC baseball was second only to Daytona State College nationally, which led all baseball teams with a 3.85 GPA. This year a total of 43 individual PJC athletes from six teams were honored, up from 28 last year.
"It is a proud day for PJC,” said Dr. Pam Anglin, PJC President. "To have this many Academic All-Americans signifies the strength of our Athletic Department in developing the student-athlete and each of these athletes are to be commended for their dedication and hard work."
PJC athletes named to the NJCAA All-Academic First Team (4.00 GPA) include: Baseball: freshman Drake Boggan, Lewisville; sophomore Sam Creed, Arlington; sophomore Caleb Dubois, Bridge City; sophomore Kyle Hogwood, Forney; freshman Hayden Johnson, Conroe; sophomore Zach Norris, Paris; freshman Evan Schroeder, Brenham; sophomore Grayson Tatrow, Mansfield; and freshman Junior Torres, Irving. Men's Basketball: freshman Starlin Hamilton, Flint, Mich., and sophomore Romello Wilbert, The Woodlands. Men's Soccer: freshman Alessandro Felizzola, Houston, and sophomore Eduardo Flores, Houston. Softball: sophomore Abbie Clevenger, Jacksonville; sophomore Rachael Gray, Ovilla; sophomore Allison Wilson, Center. Women's Basketball: freshman Skye Watts, Lovelady.
PJC athletes named to the NJCAA All-Academic Second Team (3.8-3.99 GPA) include: Baseball: freshman Chase Alford, Sachse; sophomore Kyle Boudreaux, Houston; sophomore Matthew Castaneda, Desoto; freshman Camron Dollar, Minden, La.; freshman Reese Grimes, Georgetown; freshman Brady Johnson, Palestine; sophomore Josh Mancuso, Anderson; freshman Zach Poe, Madisonville; freshman Julio Riggs, Boerne; freshman Walker Sigman, Austin; freshman Dimitri Stamatopoulos, Toronto, Canada; and freshman James Starnes, Spring. Men's Soccer: sophomore Raymond Kennedy, Waxahachie. Softball: freshman Gracie Jackson, Jacksonville. Women's Basketball: freshman Briasia Garza, Houston; freshman Nikki Green, Richardson; and freshman Alaeh Pressley, Stafford. Women's Soccer: sophomore Uva Alcantara, Mesquite, and sophomore Mildred Madina-Faris, Center.
PJC athletes named to the NJCAA All-Academic Third Team (3.6-3.79 GPA) include: Baseball: freshman Heath Backhus, New Waverly; sophomore Shelby Becker, Giddings; freshman Mitchell Cashion, Missouri City; and sophomore Wilson Roubion, College Station. Softball: freshman Haven Grider, Lewisville; and freshman Haley Shultz, Jasper. Women's Basketball: sophomore Tahlia Sloan Casey, Crosby.