The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference recently announced the fall honorees of the HCAC All-Academic awards for the 2011-12 school year.
Twenty Bluffton University athletes were recognized for their efforts in the classroom. Women's soccer and volleyball led the way for the Beavers with seven and four honorees, respectively.
Seniors Lyndsay Nelson (St. Marys) and Megan DeNoi (Bryan) along with junior Maddie Moore (Linn Grove, Ind./South Adams) are all repeat honorees from the women's soccer team. It marked the third straight year that Nelson and Denoi were honored by the conference. Moore was selected for the second straight season. Sophomores Maggie Armstrong (Vevay, Ind./Switzerland Cty.), Liz Webb (Ashland), Katie Steenrod (Sidney) and Megan Moreo (Spencerville/Delphos Jefferson) picked up their first HCAC All-Academic award following the 2011 campaign.
Juniors Thomas Gingrich (Goshen, Ind./Goshen) and Ryan Sabin (Canal Winchester) from the football team were recognized as HCAC All-Academic. Gingrich and Sabin were both HCAC All-Academic for the second consecutive year.
Seniors Jenna Eshleman (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield) and Courtney Zimmerman (Leesburg/Fairfield) both finished with their third straight Academic All-HCAC honors following a season in which they were also first team All-HCAC selections. A pair of sophomores, Bethany Behnfeldt (Napoleon) and Lindsay Krohn (Marysville, Ind./New Washington), joined Eshleman and Zimmerman on the HCAC All-Academic team.
Senior Heather Smith (Elkhart, Ind./Concord), from women's cross country, picked up her third consecutive Academic All-HCAC honor this season. Also honored was sophomore Brandi Dominique (Wauseon). Joining them from the men's cross country team were senior Andy Chaffee (Clarkston, Mich.) and junior Chris Arnold (Fort Wayne, Ind./Canterbury).
Picking up Academic All-HCAC honors from the women's tennis team were junior Melissa Hostetler (Goshen, Ind.) and sophomore Ashley Jones (Fayette/Evergreen).
Senior Andrew Keeler (Bluffton) earned HCAC All-Academic honors following his first season of men's soccer in 2011.
To be named All-Academic HCAC, a student-athlete must have completed a full year at the institution, be a varsity athlete and carry a minimum cumulative grade point average of at least 3.50 through the semester preceding the end of the season.
