Five athletic teams and 62 student athletes at Kankakee Community College have earned recognition from the NJCAA for academic achievements during the 2022-23 academic year.

“I could not be prouder of the profound accomplishment of our five teams, who have attained Academic All-American status this year, with our women’s soccer team making the list for the first time in our institution’s history,” said Bryce Shafer, KCC’s athletic director. “(It) represents the best of what KCC athletics stand for: Excellence and development on and off the field or court.”

The minimum team grade point average requirement is 3.0 to receive recognition. KCC’s teams qualifying for NJCAA All-Academic Team status are:

Women’s Soccer – 3.39 team GPA, with 13 student GPAs above 3.0. –Photo submitted.
Softball – 3.29 team GPA, with 11 student GPAs above 3.0. –Photo submitted.
Volleyball – 3.23 team GPA. with eight student GPAs above 3.0. –Photo submitted.
Men’s Soccer – 3.15 team GPA, with 10 student GPAs above 3.0. –Photo submitted.
Baseball – 3.0 team GPA, with 20 student GPAs above 3.0. –Photo submitted.

KCC’s men’s soccer team is the only NJCAA Region 4 team to be an All-Academic Team. Among the four women’s soccer teams from NJCAA Region 4 that earned the academic honor, the Cavaliers have the highest overall GPA.

“Enough cannot be said about the academic performance of both men’s and women’s soccer teams,” said Head Coach Mike Barclay. “To have both teams receive this recognition in the same year, and the top spot for our region in each sport, is amazing.”

“We set a goal at the beginning of the year to repeat as a team Academic All-American,” said Keith Cooper, head softball coach. “The ladies were determined to achieve that goal and worked extremely hard to accomplish it. We are very proud of the championship mentality and the work they had both in the classroom and on the field.”

“One of our core goals every year as a baseball team is to attain an average GPA of 3.0,” said Shafer, who also serves as the head baseball coach. “We firmly believe the pursuit of development and excellence, on the field and in the classroom, shapes true champions.

Thirty KCC student-athletes received NJCAA honors for academic achievement during the 2022-23 school year, including the following local students:

  • All-Academic Second Team members, with grade point averages between 3.80-3.99, are: Kaitlyn Marks – Frankfort, Softball; Mia Robbins – Manteno, Women’s Soccer; and Tess Wallace – Bradley, Women’s Soccer.
  • All-Academic Third Team members, with grade point averages of 3.60-3.79, are: Gianna Basile – Bourbonnais, Volleyball; Mariel Camargo – Kankakee, Women’s Soccer; Matt Guiney – Bradley, Men’s Soccer; Connor Janik – Frankfort, Baseball; Payton Kohl – Bourbonnais, Volleyball; Aiyanna Lopez – Kankakee, Women’s Soccer; Jose Pizano – St. Anne, Men’s Soccer; Sam Porras – Bradley, Women’s Soccer; and Danny Sorich – Bradley, Men’s Soccer.

The overall grade point average of KCC student-athletes was 3.1 for the year.

More information about KCC athletics is at athletics.kcc.edu<https://athletics.kcc.edu>.