JBU Student-Athletes Headline Sooner Athletic's Academic Awards
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (January 21, 2016) -- The Sooner Athletic released its league-wide Academic All-Conference teams and 32 John Brown University student-athletes made the fall list, marking the most recipients of any institution in the conference, league offices announced this morning.
To be eligible for the SAC Academic All-Conference team, students must maintain a minimum 3.25 GPA during the previous two semesters and serve as regulars (letterwinners) on their respective team.
In its second year of existence, JBU fell one student-athlete short of last fall's 33 total honorees, but either held or tied for the most recipients in three of the five fall sports, including volleyball (7), women's cross country (5) and men's cross country (6). Southwestern Christian (Okla.), Oklahoma City and Wayland Baptist (Texas) each had seven volleyball honorees while Oklahoma City also sported five women's cross country recipients. Men's cross country held the top spot with six, narrowly edging out Science & Arts (Okla.), which boasted five. Additionally, 14 student-athletes returned to the list for the second-straight year.
With 32 total honorees, the Golden Eagles bested City by two, followed by Texas Wesleyan's 26. Wayland Baptist posted 25 while Southwestern Christian and Southwestern A.G. (Texas) notched 23 and 20, respectively.
Men's soccer posted seven award-winners, tying last season's total, while women's soccer finished with seven, four fewer than last season. Cross country picked up the difference, however, with the men adding three more than in 2014.
Overall, 202 student-athletes earned accolades, down 22 from last season. Texas Wesleyan's men's soccer team boasted the single-team highest number of recipients with 10. Women's soccer easily had the most honorees (66) while both volleyball and men's soccer boasted 46 each.
The awards are presented by Cypress Risk Management, an Omaha, Neb., based insurance agency that specializes in providing customized solutions for collegiate student health and athletic accident insurance. The organization currently insures over 500,000 students nationwide and is already engaged with several other NAIA conferences in similar type of partnerships. Cypress Risk Management’s partnership with the SAC gives it exclusive sponsorship to the newly-founded awards program that covers the 13 men's and women's NAIA-sanctioned sports the conference offers.
JBU Academic All-Conference Winners
- Melissa Bakke (Volleyball)*
- Libby Blasingame (Volleyball)*
- Audrey Dearien (Volleyball)*
- Molli Pugh (Volleyball)*
- Alyssa Arnold (Volleyball)
- Beth Brankle (Volleyball)
- Bailei Brown (Volleyball)
- Annie Brown (Women’s Cross Country)*
- Kaitlyn Collier (Women's Cross Country)
- Abigail Danley (Women's Cross Country)
- Erin Haley (Women's Cross Country)
- Jennifer Poole (Women's Cross Country)
- Kenny Crane (Men's Cross Country)*
- Kent McDonell (Men's Cross Country)*
- Aaron Stafford (Men's Cross Country)*
- Thomas Bearden (Men's Cross Country)
- Levi Nordmeyer (Men's Cross Country)
- Justin Riffel (Men's Cross Country)
- Sara Lachance (Women's Soccer)*
- Alex Fahr (Women's Soccer)*
- Julie Whitlow (Women's Soccer)*
- Sarah Hill (Women's Soccer)
- Sara Frey (Women's Soccer)
- Anne Metz (Women's Soccer)
- Samantha Weber (Women's Soccer)
- Cory Cole (Men's Soccer)*
- Galen Bahadoorsingh (Men's Soccer)*
- Zeke Zumbro (Men's Soccer)*
- Connor Georgopulos (Men's Soccer)
- Adam Holt (Men's Soccer)
- Logan Hellinghausen (Men's Soccer)
- Collin Smith (Men's Soccer)
* Denotes two-time winner
