LAKER ATHLETICS RECOGNIZED FOR SUCCESS

Several Lake Land College student athletes and teams were recognized by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) for both athletic and academic accomplishments during the 2020-21 season.

The Lake Land College Softball, Women's Volleyball, Women’s Basketball and Baseball teams each earned 2021 NJCAA Academic Team awards. To be recognized as an NJCAA Academic Team, all team members must have a collective GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Many individual athletes earned the 2021 NJCAA All-Academic First Team title, in which case the athlete took at least 24 credit hours and maintained a 4.00 GPA. These individuals include Men’s Basketball team member Isaiah May (Belleville), Softball team members Rachel Kaufman (Seymour, IN) and McKenzee Davee (Mattoon) and Volleyball team member Kelsi Geltz (Newton). From the Baseball team, Bryan Belo (Algonquin), Keegan Garis (Crystal Lake), Caleb Hurst (Charleston) and Jacob Spitz (Mattoon) earned the title. Women’s Basketball team members Olivia Niemerg (Teutopolis), Harley Barry (Shiloh), Kamaria Gant (Bloomington) and Elizabeth Buescher (Charleston) earned this honor as well.

Several Lake Land College athletes earned the 2021 NJCAA All-Academic Second Team title, signifying the athlete took at least 24 credit hours and maintained a 3.80-3.99 GPA. These athletes include Women’s Basketball team members Karrington Krabel (Paris) and Shania Schoonover (Pana), Softball team member Kyrsten Darrough (Flora) and Women's Volleyball team member Lara Caldeira (Brazil, South America). Baseball team members Wes Harrell (Charleston), Isaiah Hart (Lake Zurich), Ryan Janssen (Nokomis) and Paul Thoele (Dieterich) also earned the title.

Still more athletes earned the 2021 NJCAA All-Academic Third Team title, indicating the athlete earned at least 24 credit hours and maintained a GPA of 3.60-3.79. These athletes include Women’s Basketball team members Abigayle Weis (Effingham) and Josie Orris (Sullivan), Softball team members Klara Cejkova-Klaci (Prague, Czech Republic), Harley Mason (Casey) and Carson Cole (Windsor) and Women's Volleyball team members Malorie Craig (Clay City) and Abby Kallis (Charleston). The Baseball players who earned the title include Michael Aragon (Barrington), Marc Babicz (Chicago), Keagan Brady (Charleston), Oliver Dunn (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), Dylan Guy (Effingham), Brock Minor (Paris), Andrew Morlen (Fishers, IN), Jackson Nichols (Mattoon), Caleb Slater (Vandalia) and Jacob Walker (Lafayette, IN).

From the Women's Volleyball Team

Caroline DeSouza (Brazil, South America) earned NJCAA Division I All-Region 24 and both DeSouza and Morgan Parsons (Shelbyville) earned Great Rivers Athletic Conference All-Conference Team.

On the Women’s Basketball Team

Gant earned NJCAA Division II All American, NJCAA Division II All-Region 24, NJCAA Division II National Tournament All-Tournament Team and Great Rivers Athletic Conference All-Conference. Weis earned NJCAA Division II All-Region 24 and Great Rivers Athletic Conference All-Conference. Tresior Newson (Normal West) earned NJCAA Division II National Tournament All-Tournament Team and Barry was named NJCAA Division II National Tournament MVP. Women’s Basketball Coach Dave Johnson was named Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Co-Coach of the year, NJCAA Division II District A Coach of the year and NJCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Coach of the year.

For the Men’s Basketball Team

Everett Stubblefield (Chicago) earned NJCAA Division I All-Region 24 and Great Rivers Athletic Conference All-Conference.

For the Softball Team

The Softball team was the Great Rivers Athletic Conference Champion as well as the Region 24 Runner-up. Kaufman earned NJCAA Division I All American, NJCAA Division I All-Region 24 Tournament Team, NJCAA Division I All-Region 24 and was named Great Rivers Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Kaitlyn Scheitler (Carol Stream) earned Great Rivers Athletic Conference Team, NJCAA Division I All-Region 24 and NJCAA Division I All-Region 24 Tournament Team. Tyanna Graber (Loogootee, IN) earned Great Rivers Athletic Conference Team, NJCAA Division I All-Region 24 and NJCAA Division I All-Region 24 Tournament Team.

Marama Makea (Wellington, New Zealand) and Cejkova-Klaci both earned Great Rivers Athletic Conference Team and NJCAA Division I All-Region 24. Cole, Darrough and Claire Maulding (Casey) all earned NJCAA Division I All-Region 24 as well, and Liz Titus (Neoga) earned NJCAA Division I All-Region 24 Tournament Team. Softball Coach Nic Nelson was named Great Rivers Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.

Lake Land College is proud of the many talented individuals and teams involved with the college’s Athletics programs. Stay up to date on Laker Athletics by following @LLCAthletics on Facebook and Twitter.