Making Their Mark

Stanislaus State Warriors put the "student" in student-athletes during the 2023-24 academic year, with members of all 14 teams earning honors for academic achievement.

The recognitions ranged from national team awards to individual California Collegiate Athletic Association honors.

"Along with competitive success and social development, academic achievement is at the core of our mission as a department," Athletics Director Aaron Allaire said. "The success that we have achieved is a reflection of the hard work our student-athletes put in, as well as the support from coaches and support staff who not only prioritize academics but also put our students in the best position to be successful."

Student-athlete academic success begins during the recruiting process and continues through graduation. The Athletic Achievement Center (AAC), led by Associate Athletics Director of Student Success Alissa Aragon, with an athletics academic advisor and compliance officer, reviews transcripts for academic and athletics eligibility based on California State University and National Collegiate Athletic Association standards.

"We help them enter Stan State by creating their first-semester class schedule, work with faculty advisors to transfer major classes, teach a first-year student-athlete-only resource class, and we regularly provide advising for eligibility and graduation," Aragon said.

"The department has a mandatory study hall, called academic practice, for students who have a GPA below 2.5. We also support teams who have their own academic practice standards which include GPAs below 3.0."

The department's GPA goal is 3.0 overall, Aragon said, and the athletes of the 2023-24 academic year combined for a 3.27 GPA.

In the most recent announcement, 47 Warriors received Division 2 Athletics Directors Association (D2 ADA) Academic Achievement Awards.

The spring teams produced 34 student-athletes who earned a 4.0 and 97 who made the Dean's List.

The highest honors in the spring went to the women's tennis team, baseball team, softball team and men's and women's track teams.

Mikaela Ferreira was named to the 2023-24 Academic All-America Softball Team as selected by the College Sports Communicators. Ferreira was a Third Team honoree and is the first Warrior to earn the honor.

She previously was named to the Academic All-District Team with teammates Karli DalBianco and Sasha Martello.

To qualify for Academic All-America, Ferreira had to have a minimum 3.5 cumulative GPA and compete in 90 percent of her team's games or start in 66 percent of them.

Ferreira, the team's shortstop, was named Stan State's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the Female Student-Athlete of the Year.

The women's tennis team, which won the University's Team Academic Award for the fifth consecutive time, closed out an impressive year of academic success by having six players - Nicollet Alexander, Zuzanna Dziewiecka, Abbigail Mulick, Annabelle Mulick, Alyssa Tay and Emma Yu - named Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Scholar-Athletes.

The six had grade-point averages of 3.5 or better to earn the individual awards. The team, coached by Verek Visaraga, also earned the ITA All-Academic Team Award for its cumulative GPA of 3.52, far exceeding the standard of 3.2 or better.

Tay and Yu were named to the 2023-24 Academic All-District Women's Tennis Team sponsored by College Sports Communicators.

Kenny Leonesio's baseball team earned the American Baseball Coaches Association Team Academic Excellence Award for posting a cumulative grade-point average better than 3.0. It was the third consecutive year the baseball team was so honored.

Additionally, Mac Cabero, Noah Chelberg, Patrick Sweeney, Chris Catalano and Kyle Rachels were named to the 2023-24 Academic All-District Baseball Team as selected by the College Sports Communicators.

Troy Johnson's men's and women's track teams were named to the 2024 NCAA Division II All-Academic Team as announced by the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Both teams met the standard of a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better.

Team members Caitlyn Bell, Najwa Chouati, Kaela Dishion, Nate Olsen, Mila Real and Annie Wild were named NCAA Division II Track & Field All-Academic Athletes.

Bell, Chouati and Dishion joined Cole Bailey, Hailey Hunter, Lamont Lane and Dominic Robles in being named to the College Sports Communicators' Academic All-District Team.

Lane earned the Elite 13 Award at the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) championships, held at Stan State, for having the highest GPA of any competing male.

Teammate Trent Lauderdale was named Stan State's Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Stan State's men's basketball team, coached by Paul Trevor, earned a 2023-24 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Award, which honors programs that completed the academic year with a team GPA of 3.0 or better.

Warriors Mahda Fallay, Jeremiah Jones, Baljot Sahi, Cam Walker and Jason Zimmer were named to the NABC Honors Court as junior, senior or graduate players who finished the season with a 3.2 GPA or better.

Jones was named to the 2023-24 Academic All-District Men's Basketball Team for the second year in a row as selected by the College Sports Communicators.

In the fall, Tyler Tipton was named to the 2023 Academic All-America Men's Soccer Second Team as selected by the College Sports Communicators. Tipton is the first Stan State men's soccer student-athlete named to the team.

Tipton and teammates Finn Hoffmann and Sammy Villanueva earned Academic All-District honors.

Also in the fall, Lauren Flowers' volleyball team received the American Valley Coaches Association (AVCA) 2023-24 AVCA Team Academic Award.

Haley Burdo, Alex Byrd and Ellison Weaver were named to the Academic All-District team.

Haylee Heffner, Abby Martinez, and Makeila Yancey were named to the 2023 Academic All-District Women's Soccer Team.

Stan State had 58 student-athletes receive California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) 2023-24 All-Academic Awards.

Each earned a GPA of 3.40 or better.

"We are always proud of the academic success Stan State athletes have, and it should be celebrated," Allaire said.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.