For the third time in Sooner Athletic Conference history, the league has announced a conferencewide Commissioner's Honor Roll. John Brown University boasts the fourth-most total honorees with 91, league offices announced June 19.
To be eligible for the Commissioner's Honor Roll, student-athletes must maintain a minimum 3.00 GPA during the previous academic year.
Commissioner’s Honor Roll Award Winners
Women’s Cross Country/Track
Kaitlyn Collier*, Carly Coney*, Erin Green*, Erin Haley*, Abbie Melby*, Haley Newcomb*, Jennifer Poole*, Reagan Roth*
Women’s Basketball
Baily Cameron, Kimmy Deines*, Courtney Fine*, Lauren Pelegreen*, Kodee Powell, Preslea Reece, KJ Roh Jana Schammel*, Luize Skrastina, Sara Williams
Women’s Soccer
Sarah Abbott*, Annika Bos*, Anna Brown*, Sara Frey*, Katherine Haar, Melody Hagen, Kathryn Huff, Sarah Hughes, Sara Lachance*, Allie McCracken, Anne Metz*, Hannah Poor*, Jastin Redman, Aspen Robinson*, Hannah Sweaney, Samantha Weber*
Volleyball
Alyssa Arnold*, Brittany Ayers*, Megan Beck, Elizabeth Bjornsen*, Beth Brankle*, Bailei Brown*, Lindsey Davis, Bethany Maddox*, Carly McKinney, Jessica Meyer, Molli Pugh*, Bayli Reagan, Bailey Sager*, Elizabeth Williams
Men’s Cross Country/Track
Thomas Bearden*, Jacob Benjamin*, Jake Braschler, Michael Games*, Kent McDonell*, Levi Nordmeyer*, Elliott Pearson, Nathan Pearson, Justin Riffel*, Aaron Stafford*, Ethan Stafford, Jacob Synek*, Nate Wertjes
Men’s Basketball
Josh Bowling*, Jake Caudle, Zach English*, Joshua Rhodius*, Benjamin Smith*
Men’s Soccer
Connor Christians, Connor Georgopulos*, Conner Haney*, Tim Huffine, Kelvin Omondi*, James Pollard*, Estiven Saldarriaga, Collin Smith*, Ryan Smith, Santiago Vanegas*, Ryan Williams*, Britt Wisener*
*Denotes repeat honoree
"I am so proud of our student-athletes and their commitment to excellence in the classroom," said Robyn Daugherty, director of athletics. "In a world where athletic performance overshadows academic achievement, it is exciting to me to see 50 percent of our student-athletes at a 3.00 or higher, especially at an institution where academics are very challenging."
With 77 honorees, JBU boasts the fourth-highest number of student-athletes honored. Texas Wesleyan led all conference institutions with 106 winners while Oklahoma City landed 94 and Wayland Baptist (Texas) finished third with 88. Over 50 percent of all Golden Eagles were named to the honor roll and 48 were repeat winners.
Four programs experienced an increase in student-athletes honored, led by volleyball's 14, three more than last season. Both women's basketball (10) and women's soccer (16) upped their totals by two while men's cross country (12) added one more than last season.
Women's soccer recorded the highest number of honorees among Sooner Athletic institutions, as did volleyball. Women's basketball surged to the second-most number of selections behind Southwestern Christian (14).
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.
Sports on 07/02/2017