NewsTribune sports briefs for Friday, Aug. 18, 2023

IVCC had 23 athletes and three teams recognized by the NJCAA for their performance in the classroom.

Colin Hart (soccer), Claire Morrow (softball), Taylor Wetsel (volleyball, softball), Isabella Lambert (soccer), Emma Stumpf (tennis) and Olivia Woods (tennis) were named first-team NJCAA Academic All-America for earning a GPA of 4.0. The six IVCC athletes earning first team was the school’s highest total in the past five years.

Second-team honors, for athletes with GPAs of 3.8-3.99, went to Elizabeth Browder (basketball, softball), Wes Ruppert (basketball), Holly Shriber (volleyball, softball), Lasavior Summers (basketball), Maddy Klicker (softball), Kendall Schmidt (soccer, basketball), Emily Strehl (tennis) and Drake Weber (baseball).

Athletes named to the third team with a GPA of 3.6-3.79 were Marissa Boehm (softball), Adam Currie (baseball), Madison McGunnigal (tennis), Brayden Roe (baseball), Brianna Strehl (tennis), Logan Brandner (tennis), Lyan Gonzalez (soccer), Justus Mason (baseball) and Leah Smudzinski (basketball).

The IVCC softball, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball teams were recognized by the NJCAA for maintaining a cumulative team GPA of 3.0 or higher.

“Playing intercollegiate athletics is a huge time commitment, and many of our athletes compete in multiple sports, have jobs and belong to other college and community organizations,” IVCC athletic director and softball coach Cory Tomasson said in a news release. “The degree of involvement and motivation of many of these athletes is truly amazing and they contribute so much to the college.

“IVCC prides itself on the academic performance of it’s student-athletes and we have many strategies to encourage, monitor and assist in their academic success. One of the most important is the attention and assistance from their instructors. Instructors provide high-qualify instruction, personal attention and academic guidance to all students, but the support they provide student-athletes is crucial to achieving such a high level of eligibility and transfer standards.”

IVCC also had 47 athletes named to the Arrowhead Conference Academic Excellence honors list for maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Pistol Shrimp pitcher earns more honors: Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp pitcher Sebastian Gonzalez added two more honors to his resume as he was named the Prospect League ArmCare.com Pitcher of the Year and was voted to the Western Conference All-Star Team.

Gonzalez, a left-hander for the University of Hawaii, previously was named the Roland Hemond Pro Prospect of the Year and the Galen Woods Fireman of the Year, which is given to the league’s top relief pitcher.

Gonzalez appeared in 21 games, going 2-2 with seven saves. He had a 2.22 ERA and struck out 86 batters with 18 walks in 56 2/3 innings.

He finished first in the Prospect League in strikeouts and second in ERA, saves and innings pitched.