Quintet of Eagles, two teams earn NJCAA Academic Student-Athlete Awards
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (June 25, 2015) – The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) announced its 2014-15 Academic Student-Athlete Awards on Wednesday, and Tallahassee Community College picked up a total of seven honors.
Five student-athletes – softball’s Danielle Ekberg, Taesha DuBoise and Karley Yeager, and baseball’s Cameron Paley and Matt Schaeffer – were recognized as well as the Eagles’ softball and baseball teams for their stellar performance in the classroom.
"I'm extremely proud of these student-athletes," said director of athletics Rob Chaney. "Our coaches are committed to building a student first, athlete second culture within our department, and this is evidence that our student-athletes value excellence in the classroom just as much as on their respective field of play.
"It is also a testament to the quality service a student-athlete receives while enrolled at Tallahassee Community College – beginning with our academic advisors and continuing into the classroom with our outstanding faculty.”
During the 2014-15 academic year, the NJCAA saw 58,531 student-athletes compete on 3,461 teams in 28 different sports. Of those, a record 1,936 – or 3.31 percent – qualified for an academic award which is only available to student-athletes who have accumulated at least 45 semester credit hours or 60 quarter credit hours with a minimum 3.60 grade point average.
Ekberg, a native of Tallahassee and former standout at Lincoln High School, posted a 4.0 grade point average, thus earning the NJCAA’s highest honor, the Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence. She was one of a record 185 student-athletes who earned a 4.0 grade point average.
DuBoise (Stockbridge, Ga.), Yeager (Arden, N.C.), Paley (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Schaeffer (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) all received the NJCAA’s Exemplary Academic Achievement Award, presented to student-athletes with a grade point average between 3.60 and 3.79.
All five were honor students during their careers at Tallahassee Community College. Ekberg, DuBoise, Yeager and Schaeffer have already graduated with honors from the College; Paley will follow suit later this summer. Additionally, Ekberg and Yeager were members of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society of two-year colleges.
The Eagles also picked up two team awards from the NJCAA – Tallahassee Community College’s softball and baseball teams received honorable mention recognition as NJCAA Academic Teams of the Year by assembling a minimum 3.0 grade point average.
Tallahassee’s softball team tied for 30th nationally and had the highest GPA (3.36) among schools from Region 8. Meanwhile, the Eagles’ baseball team, with a 3.05 team GPA, was one of five schools from Region 8 to make the academic honor roll.
Florida College System Activities Association and Panhandle Conference Academic Honor Rolls will be released next week.