COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Excelling in the athletic arena is what every student-athlete strives to do. For Western Wyoming Community College 10 Mustangs were recently honored for their work in the classroom.

Not only do coaches at WWCC expect success competing, they expect athletes to take the same work ethic and desire in the classroom. Four members of the WWCC volleyball team, two players from both the men’s and women’s basketball team, a men’s soccer player and a wrestler all received individual academic honors from the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Those Mustangs honored included Macayla Arrington, Carson Broadhead, Brandon Davies, Cassandra Gubler, Jeremy Head, Ashley Hill, Amber Hillestad, Cassidee Lish, Jenna Sawatzki and Brenn Schiess.

This year saw a record 1,936 student-athletes from 324 NJCAA member colleges earn national academic honors.

During the 2014-15 academic year, the NJCAA saw 58,531 student-athletes compete on 3,461 teams in 28 different sports. A record 3.31 percent of individuals competing in the association qualified for an academic award which is only available to student-athletes that have accumulated at least 45 semester credit hours or 60 quarter credit hours with a minimum of a 3.60 grade-point average.

Below is a listing of the three NJCAA Academic Student-Athlete Awards with the qualifying grade-point average for each honor:

Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence: 4.00 GPA
Superior Academic Achievement Award: 3.80-3.99 GPA
Exemplary Academic Achievement Award: 3.60-3.79 GPA

The Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence was presented to a record 185 student-athletes that earned a 4.0 grade-point average. There were 741 qualifiers for the Superior Academic Achievement Award, while 1,110 individuals claimed the Exemplary Academic Achievement Award.

Coffeyville (Kan.) claimed the most accolades with 35 student-athletes gaining recognition – including four individuals earning the Pinnacle Award, 12 claiming the Superior and 19 taking the Exemplary honor.

Four programs tied for the most Pinnacle Award recipients as Fort Scott (Kan.), Hesston (Kan.), Itawamba (Miss.) and Waubonsee (Ill.) each had five student-athletes record a 4.0 grade-point average.

Western Wyoming Honors

Macayla Arrington – Pinnacle Award – Women’s Basketball

Carson Broadhead, – Exemplary – Men’s Soccer

Brandon Davies – Superior – Men’s Basketball

Cassandra Gubler – Exemplary – Women’s Basketball

Jeremy Head – Superior – Men’s Basketball

Ashley Hill – Pinnacle, Volleyball

Amber Hillestad – Superior – Volleyball

Cassidee Lish – Superior – Volleyball

Jenna Sawatzki – Exemplary – Volleyball

Brenn Schiess – Superior – Wrestling