Lincoln College Academic All-Americans List Released
Thirty-seven student Athletes from LC recognized for academic excellence

[July 14, 2017]  LINCOLN - The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) has released their annual list of Academic All-Americans, and Lincoln College was once again well-represented. Thirty-seven Lincoln College student-athletes from nine different programs have earned First, Second, or Third team status based on their 2016-2017 grade point averages. Eleven of the honorees were student-athletes from Lincoln or the surrounding area.

Twelve Lynx athletes achieved First team status by maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA. Local First team members included Ashlyn Carroll (Lincoln), Ally Green (Clinton) Brighton Robbins (Lincoln), Erin Rankin (Emden), and Makenzie Cooper (Lincoln). Lincoln Community High School grads K.J. Fry and Ryan Thomas were among the ten LC athletes to earn Second team honors (3.80-3.99 GPA). Fifteen student athletes were awarded Third team certificates (3.60-3.79 GPA), including Lincoln natives Anna Walters, Aaron Hopp, Jaylee Swinford, and Madison Ewald.

The LC softball team lead the way in total number of Academic All-Americans with 11, while baseball and women's volleyball were close behind with nine and eight honorees respectively.

Lincoln College Athletic Director Dave Klemm is proud of the accomplishments made by these student-athletes. "Each of them deserves recognition for the hard work they put in during the year. It is not easy to balance school and athletic commitments, but these individuals have shown the ability to do both at a very high level," Klemm said. "The high number of athletes who qualified for this honor is an indication of how dedicated our coaching staff is to promoting academic excellence, which is also deserving of praise."

The NJCAA awards certificates of achievement to each Academic All-American. In addition to individual awards, the NJCAA also recognizes teams who achieve above a 3.0 team GPA. Several Lincoln College teams will qualify for this distinction. Academic All-American teams for 2017 will be announced in the coming weeks.

Lincoln College 2016-2017 Academic All-Americans

First Team (GPA 4.0)
name, home town, sport(s)

Ally Green – Clinton – Basketball & Golf

Ashlyn Carroll – Lincoln - Softball

Blaine Ray – Staunton - Baseball

Brighton Robbins – Lincoln – Volleyball & Softball

Erin Rankin – Emden – Volleyball & Softball

Jenna Weller - Salt Fork - Volleyball

Kiya Harper – Decatur - Softball

Makenzie Cooper – Lincoln – Volleyball & Softball

First Team (GPA 4.0) cont.

Matthew Winscher - O’ Fallon, MO - Baseball

Mikayla Seibert – Mackinaw – Volleyball

Miranda Kindhart – Macomb - Swimming & Diving

Niayr Maines – Centralia – Basketball

Second Team (GPA 3.8-3.99)

Alexandra De Vaney – Sherman - Softball

Ali Peden – Kincaid - Softball

Cassidy Sanneman – Henry – Volleyball & Softball

Christin Mathias – Harristown - Softball

Elysa Smith – Metamora - Volleyball

Kaitlyn Dekeyser – Morton – Soccer

Kelcee Dekeyser – Morton - Soccer

Kj Fry – Lincoln – Baseball

Mathew Kent – Edwardsville - Wrestling

Ryan Thomas – Lincoln – Baseball

Third Team (GPA 3.6-3.79)

Abbigale Buelow – Rockford – Volleyball & Softball

Abigail Marquez – Rochelle - Soccer

Alec Coggins – Delavan - Baseball

Anna Walters – Lincoln - Golf

Aron Hopp – Lincoln – Basketball & Baseball

Ezra Israel – Tremont - Baseball

James Eldridge - Jackson, MO - Baseball

Jaylee Swinford - Lincoln – Golf & Soccer

Jenna Breit – Tonica - Soccer

Logan McDanel - Moline – Swimming and Diving & Baseball

Madison Ewald - Lincoln - Swimming & Diving

Mallory Jones – Broadlands – Softball

Oakley Johns - Nasoso, Fiji - Swimming & Diving

Skylar Dougherty – Chatham - Softball

Taaji Bolton – Dolton - Basketball

[Mark Tippett]