26 Fire Athletes Named Academic All-Conference in 2011-12
May 3, 2012
Baseball Has Most Players Represented With Seven
LAKELAND--Southeastern University was well represented in the classroom this year, as 26 athletes made their respective Academic All-Conference teams. The latest Academic All-Conference teams were recently announced for spring sports, and SEU had 10 players earning academic honors for baseball, men's golf, and women's tennis.
In order to be named to a Academic All-Conference team, a student athlete must have a 3.50 GPA or higher, and be enrolled within an institution for at least two consecutive terms.
For fall sports (volleyball, men's & women's soccer), Southeastern had 11 players honored with six of those players coming from the Lady Fire volleyball team. Laura Ackart was one of just six players in the conference to accumulate a perfect 4.0 grade point average for fall sport teams. Senior, Christine Dell, made the list for the third time in her career. Joining Ackart and Dell was Karina Mambuca, Christi Limpert, Ruthie Glover, and Allison Lewen.
Senior men's soccer players, Knox Strawbridge and Justin Tait, were honored by the conference for the third time in their careers. Sophomore, Luke Hallberg, also made the list for the first time in his tenure.
Emily Kearns and Lauren Ressler, represented the Lady Fire soccer team. Kearns and Ressler were also honored for the third time in their careers.
Winter sports saw the Lady Fire basketball team produce five winners, as MacKenzie Messengear and Rachel Turner both finished with perfect 4.0 GPAs for the 2011 Fall term. Also, making the list was Tori Robison, Liz Capps, and Rebekah Day. Robison is a three time Academic All-Conference recipient.
With seven players earning Academic All-Conference honors, the SEU Fire baseball team had more players represented on this year's list than any other program in the conference. Brandon DeRespiris, Daniel Mims, Kevin Kunnen, Armando Alvarez, Bryan Sparrow, Corey Turner, and Phillip Kish all were honored for their hard work in the classroom. Alvarez is now a three time Academic All-Conference member, while DeRespiris and Mims have been named to the list the past two seasons.
Men's golf had two players named with Matthew Jenkinson and Isaac Spencer, and both players had perfect 4.0 GPAs for the 2011 Fall term. Spencer is a three time Academic All-Conference member, and was recently honored at the SEU Fire Awards as the athletic department's Academic Athlete of the Year, along with women's basketball player MacKenzie Messenger.
Wendy Reade, of the Lady Fire tennis team, made the list by also accumulating a perfect 4.0 GPA.
To see the list of all Academic All-Conference winners click here.
