OJC Press Release ID: 2540

Monday, July 11, 2016

Rattler athletes honored for academic excellence

The NJCAA honors both athletic and academic achievement in student athletes at the junior college level. Otero Junior College proudly recognizes thirteen students who were individually honored for their academic achievements in the 2015-2016 year.

To qualify for NJCAA Academic All-American honors, student athletes must maintain a 3.6 or better cumulative grade point average and have been enrolled as a full-time student for three semesters.

Four OJC students met the qualifications for the Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence (GPA of 4.0): Malena Berchot, Golf; Jocelyn Hernandez, softball; Samantha Kouns softball; and Chloe Nolan, women’s soccer.

Six OJC students met the qualifications for Superior Academic Achievement (GPA of 3.80-3.99): Delaney Gaddis, women’s basketball; Elin Ekdahl, women’s basketball; Evan Maecker, baseball; Shelby Patterson, women’s basketball; Mary Sand, softball; and Whitni Oquist, softball.

Exemplary Academic Achievement honors (GPA of 3.6-3.79) were earned by three Rattler athletes: Chelsie Hurren, women’s soccer; Josie Matlick, women’s soccer; and Samantha Garcia, softball.

In addition to these individual honors, several Rattler teams received honors with cumulative team grade point averages of 3.0 or higher. OJC’s softball team earned a team GPA of 3.21; women’s basketball team earned a team GPA of 3.17; and women’s golf earned a team GPA of 3.03.

Gary Addington, athletic director at OJC, credits the strong work ethic of the students and the collaboration between coaching staff and faculty. “Otero Junior College is committed to developing student athletes both on and off the playing field. These students exemplify the spirit of Otero. We are proud of what they have accomplished and expect to see them go on to great things.”

Malena Berchot, Jocelyn Hernandez (top row), Samantha Kouns and Chloe Nolan (bottom row) were each honored with the NJCAA Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence for maintaining a 4.0 GPA for the 2015-2016 academic year. Nine other Rattler athletes also received awards for maintaining GPAs over 3.6.