Six are first-teamers; three made second team; eight on third
Charlotte, NC – Seventeen Garrett College student athletes have been named 2023-24 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Academic All-Americans, including six Lakers who earned first-team honors.
“Everyone at the College should take pride in having 17 student athletes named as Academic All-Americans. We all had a hand in it,” said Eric Hallenbeck, head baseball coach and co-athletics director.
Baseball players Paxton Patronas (Uniontown, PA), Easton Rhoten (Grantsville), and Ethan Sebold (Grantsville) were joined on the first team by women’s soccer players Anna Martin (Accident) and Sydney Weeks (Oakland), and women’s volleyball player Aiyana Yoder (Swanton). Each first-team selection compiled a perfect 4.0 grade-point-average (GPA).
Wrestler Jacob Beeman (Grantsville), baseball player Steven Laurence (McMurray, PA), and women’s soccer player Samantha Preaskorn (Lavale) earned second-team honors. Student athletes were required to achieve a GPA between 3.8 and 3.99 to claim a second-team berth.
Four baseball players – Cooper Blackburn (Wintersville, OH), Lucas Bridger (Mississauga, Ontario/Canada) Ty Giblin (Swain, NY), and Zach Hallenbeck (McHenry) – were among the third-team selections, which required a GPA of 3.6 to 3.79. Women’s soccer player Cheyenne Zack (Niles, OH), women’s volleyball player Alexia Wolf (Oakland), and men’s basketball player Nate Washington (Lavale) also made the third team, as did women’s soccer/basketball player Johnna Collins (Deer Park).
Hallenbeck said the number of Lakers named to the all-academic teams is particularly impressive given the size of GC’s intercollegiate athletic program.
“We finished third in the number of student athletes recognized out of 16 community colleges in Maryland,” reported Hallenbeck. “The two ahead of us offer five and six more sports than we do.
“In addition, our road trips are usually a lot longer than others because of our location,” added Hallenbeck, noting that leads to Laker student athletes missing more class time than most other state programs. “Yet, we are in the top three in Maryland JuCo! Yeah, that’s pretty special.”