July 29, 2025, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Grand Rapids Community College continues to shine both on the field and in the classroom, with 34 student-athletes being recognized by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) for academic excellence during the 2024-2025 school year. This marks an increase of five honorees from the previous year and underscores the college's growing reputation for academic achievement in athletics.

Among the 13,915 student-athletes honored nationwide, GRCC's Colin Beckett (men's golf) and Eevi Eskola (women's soccer) earned NJCAA All-Academic First Team honors, awarded to those who posted a flawless 4.0 GPA.

"Academic success is the foundation of our athletics program," said Lauren Ferullo, GRCC Director of Athletics. "We are extremely proud of our student-athletes for their commitment to excellence both in competition and in the classroom. These recognitions reflect their resilience, dedication, and the strong support of our coaches and academic staff."

GRCC also celebrated program-wide accomplishments, with two athletic teams repeating as NJCAA Academic Teams of the Year:

• Women's Volleyball, with a combined team GPA of 3.49
• Men's Cross Country, finishing with a 3.10 team GPA

These distinctions are reserved for programs that maintain a minimum combined GPA of 3.0 and demonstrate strong academic consistency across their rosters.

NJCAA All-Academic Second Team (GPA 3.80–3.99)

• Baseball: Jack Lockwood, Canyen Veldhouse, Andrew Pohlmann
• Volleyball: Sophia Ritsema, Meredith Simmons, Emma Tuttle, Jersey Vanderwall
• Men's Basketball: Jack Agema, Ethan Bennett, Micah Estelle
• Men's Cross Country: John DiPiazza, Micah Nagel
• Softball: Lauren Wiley
• Women's Soccer: Brooklyn Williams
• Women's Cross Country: Gloria Gaston
• Multi-Sport: Ava Schultz (Volleyball/Basketball)

NJCAA All-Academic Third Team (GPA 3.60–3.79)

• Women's Cross Country: Emily Adamy
• Softball: Grace Chisek
• Men's Soccer: Cristian Diaz, Reed Kaman
• Women's Basketball: Olivia McKellar
• Men's Golf: Trevor Hobbs
• Baseball: Kyler Larson, Ty Sandwick, Gavin Mazarka
• Men's Basketball: Bashir Neely
• Men's Cross Country: Samuel Spoors
• Volleyball: Carle Bruggema, Taylor Kik
• Women's Soccer: Olivia Dykstra, Jenna Verduin
• Multi-Sport: Anna Tubbergen (Cross Country/Basketball)

Seven GRCC student-athletes were named to the NJCAA All-Academic list for the second consecutive year: Andrew Pohlmann, Brooklyn Williams, Ava Schultz, Emily Adamy, Olivia McKellar, Sophia Ritsema, and Reed Kaman.

For a full list of individual recipients: NJCAA 2024 - 2025 All-Academic Teams
For a full list of academic teams of the year: NJCAA 2024 - 2025 Academic Teams of the Year

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Interested in supporting GRCC Athletics?  All donations can be done through GRCC Athletic's Scholarship Fund and can specify what scholarship fund the gift is going to, such as the Hofmann scholarship. If you have any questions on how to support Athletics at Grand Rapids Community College, contact the Athletic Department via phone at (616) 234-3883 or email grccathletics@grcc.edu. Any support is appreciated and goes towards assisting our student-athlete scholarship funds.