JUNE 30, 2026, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Grand Rapids Community College Athletics celebrated another banner year in the classroom as the Raiders established two new school records during the 2025-26 academic year. A record 91 student-athletes earned Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA) academic honors, while six teams received MCCAA All-Academic Team recognition.

The 91 individual honorees shattered the previous school record of 73, set during the 2024-25 academic year, highlighting the continued dedication of GRCC student-athletes to excellence beyond competition.

The MCCAA recognizes student-athletes in two academic categories. Academic All-Conference honors are awarded to those who achieve a cumulative grade point average between 3.00 and 3.19, while Academic All-MCCAA honors recognize student-athletes with cumulative GPAs of 3.20 or higher.

"This accomplishment represents everything we strive to achieve as an athletic department," said Director of Athletics Lauren Ferullo. "Our student-athletes continue to prove that success in the classroom and success in competition go hand in hand. Setting school records for both individual academic award winners and All-Academic Teams is a tremendous achievement, and I'm incredibly proud of our student-athletes, coaches, and academic support staff for making excellence the standard at GRCC."

GRCC had 17 student-athletes named MCCAA Academic All-Conference (*two-time recipient):

• Baseball: Sam Schmuker
• Men's Basketball: Gaden Muxlow
• Men's Cross Country: Oscar Andrade-Nava, *Samuel Pugh
• Men's Golf: Ari Ziska, Brody Cook
• Men's Soccer: Brady Fox, Levi Brumels
• Softball: *Violet McWhinnie
• Women's Basketball: Averi Peot, Gracie Flynn, Harmonie Belton, Lillian Wollen
• Women's Soccer: *Olivia Dykstra
• Volleyball: *Allie McGlothlen, Avery Powers

Another 74 Raiders earned Academic All-MCCAA recognition by posting cumulative GPAs of 3.20 or higher, giving GRCC a school-record total of 91 academic award recipients.

Complete List of Academic All-MCCAA Honorees (3.20+ GPA) (*two-time recipient)

• Baseball: Aiden Friess, A.J. Spiegl, *Andrew Conrad, Blake Sitzer, Cannon Paul, Dylan Johnston, Evan Hendricks, *Haiden Noakes, Henry Streeter, *Jack Lockwood, *Kyle O'Hearn, Landon Terry, Michael Hurlbutt, Owen Hendrix, Parker Groenink, *Peter Heintz, Sam Vanneste, Seth Bischoff.
• Men's Basketball: Darcy Imanzi, E.J. Bowman, Jakob Chapman, Landen Reister, Lucas Pitsch.
• Men's Cross Country: Braiden Morrow, Isaac Skinner, Nathan Fahey.
• Men's Golf: Landon Simpson, *Trevor Hobbs.
• Men's Soccer: Jose Oliveira, Leo Tilly, Oscar Loyo-Sanchez.
• Softball: Ava Vanderkolk, Caitlyn Horvath, Ella Schram, *Lauren Wiley, Natalee Beck, Paige Arthur, Tia Schone.
• Women's Basketball: Alison Rockburn, Emma Picarazzi, Kashari Babb, Lydia Schilthroat, Tianna Daye.
• Women's Cross Country: Binti Abdi, *Gloria Gatson, Kadence Norman, Leah Williams, Mackenzie Baldrica, Vivian Idziak.
• Women's Soccer: *Eevi Eskola, Ellisyn Lazowski, Emily Meyers, Hadley Fox, Hannah Pleiman, *Julianna Morales, Lanee Lewkowski, Linde Clark, Mallory Allen, Myah Lapekes, Nadia Perez, Nyleese Bazan-Hernandez, Valerie Rosas.
• Volleyball: *Cecelia Huizingh, Christina Williams, Ella Thayer, Garnet Mullet, *Jersey VanderWall, Kaylee Kranz, Kirstyn Lothschultz, Olivia IntHout, Payton Taylor, *Taylor Kik, Zella Hutchings.

The Raiders also set a new school record with six teams earning MCCAA All-Academic Team honors by recording cumulative team GPAs above 3.0.

• Women's Cross Country – 3.44 GPA
• Volleyball – 3.33 GPA
• Baseball – 3.27 GPA
• Women's Basketball – 3.12 GPA
• Women's Soccer – 3.11 GPA
• Men's Cross Country – 3.05 GPA

The academic recognition may not be complete, as the NJCAA Academic Awards will be announced later this month. GRCC expects to have numerous student-athletes and teams recognized at the national level as well.

For the complete list of 2025-26 MCCAA Academic Award recipients, visit: https://mccaa.org/information/academicAwards/index.

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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.