by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Athletes at Kansas City Kansas Community College excelled both on the playing field and in the classroom during the 2014-2015 academic year.
Eight Blue Devils and the KCKCC softball and baseball teams earned Academic All-American honors as announced by the National Junior College Athletic Association.
Superior Academic Achievement was awarded to three KCKCC athletes, first baseman Lauren Vanderheiden and outfielder Justice Scales of the softball team and center Julia Garrard of the women’s basketball team.
Blue Devils earning All-American status for Exemplary Academic Achievement were outfielders Tanner Foerschler and Alex Thrower of the baseball team and Blair Russell, Lily Thornberg and Peyton Pender of the women’s volleyball team, which finished ninth in the NJCAA national tournament.
The Lady Blue Devil softball team tied for seventh on the Division II Academic All-American honor list with a cumulative 3.47 grade point average while the KCKCC baseball team finished 13th in Division I with a 3.26 GPA.
“I am extremely proud of our student-athletes commitment to being successful in the classroom,” said KCKCC Director of Athletics Tony Tompkins. “We have made great strides in continuing to improve in this area and I am grateful for the buy-in from our coaching staff in supporting our mission of having student-athletes being successful academically.”
Alan Hoskins is the sports information director at KCKCC.