NJCAA and Skyway Conference academic awards abound for Moraine Valley student-athletes

The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) recognized 40 Moraine Valley Community College student-athletes with the 2024-25 All-Academic Team Award while three teams earned Academic Team of the Year. Additionally, 32 students were named Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) All-Academic Athletes of the Year, and 40 freshmen were named All-Conference Freshmen Academic Athletes of the Year. The number of Moraine Valley student-athletes who earned academic honors increased over last year.

NJCAA All-Academic Team student-athletes must have a 3.6 GPA or higher after completing at least 24 credits and participate in the college’s sport for at least one season. Nearly 14,000 student-athletes around the country earned this honor. All-Academic First Team athletes have a 4.0 GPA, Second Team requires a 3.8 to 3.99 GPA and Third Team requires a 3.6 to 3.79 GPA. Moraine Valley athletes who received this honor are:

First Team- basketball players Juvon Crawford (Westinghouse), Olivia Jeziorczak (Richards) and Lawson Walker (homeschooled); soccer players Jose Aceves (Oak Lawn), Maria Bafia (Stagg), Heather Canny (Lockport) and Keith Monteclar (Sandburg); softball players Millie Redican (Oak Forest) and Anastazie Thoma (Richards); tennis players Ewelina Dabrowski (Argo), Gabriela Dabrowski (Argo), Madilyn English (Oak Forest) and Johann Laran (Sandburg); and volleyball players Lily Avelar (Beecher), Tara Giblin (Oak Forest) and Cameron Szyszka (Sandburg)

Second Team- baseball players John Labonte (Richards) and Maddox Reta (Morris); cross country runners Rylee Milenkovic (Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences), Andrew Sima (Shepard) and Robert Slezak (Oak Lawn); soccer players Kotrina Kovalskis (Stagg), Elena Popovic (Shepard) and Rachel Rosier (Lockport); softball players Madelynn Larmon (Oak Forest) and Estelle Loth (Sandburg); and tennis players Allyson English (Oak Forest) and John Kenny (Lincoln-Way East)

Third Team- baseball player Jack Greaney (Lockport); soccer player Sidney Klein (Marist); softball players Emma Hansen (Andrew) and Annabelle Rush (Oak Forest); tennis players Zaina Daghash (Lockport), Maya Morris (Sandburg) and Breanne Schultz (Lockport); and volleyball players Katie House (Andrew), Chloe McGregor-Paterson (Sandburg), Cayla Neville (Oak Lawn) and Ava Pequette (Manteno)

Women’s tennis (cumulative 3.43 GPA), volleyball (3.55) and golf (3.01) earned the NJCAA Academic Team of the Year Award among over 1,300 teams across the country that had a 3.0 GPA or higher for the academic year.

To earn the ISCC distinction, students must have earned a 3.0 GPA or higher after completing at least 48 credit hours while participating in one of the college’s 12 sports. Moraine Valley recipients are: basketball players Olivia Baxa (Oak Forest), Deniza Fuentes (Richards), Jeziorczak and Saleh Mustafa (Stagg); cross country runners Annabel Lipkie (Stagg), Mariah Karamagianis (Sandburg), Sima and Slezak; golfers Ryan Flynders (Hinsdale South) and Sebastian Rak (Sandburg); soccer players Aceves, Rylan Decker (Lincoln-Way West), Danny Flores-Yugsi (Ecuador), Niko Kunz (Sandburg), Monteclar, Abdallah Omar (Stagg), Popovic and Hailee Ruelas (Oak Forest); softball player Hansen; tennis players Ewelina and Gabriela Dabrowski, Allyson and Madilyn English, Kenny, Morris, Ujwal Patel (Oak Forest) and Dhrumil Prajapati (Oak Forest); and volleyball players Avelar, Sophia Davidson (Marist), Neville and Pequette.

Ewelina and Gabriela Dabrowski also were awarded the ISCC Dick Durrant Sophomore Academic Athlete of the Year Award for earning a 4.0 GPA.

The All-Conference Freshmen Academic Athletes completed at least 24 credit hours with a 3.0 GPA or higher. Moraine Valley recipients are: baseball players Armando Aguilar (Bremen), Bryan Collier (Lockport), Greaney, Ryder Johnson (St. Rita), Robert Kutt (Providence), Labonte, Timothy O’Connell (St. Rita) and Reta; basketball players Shakila Brownlow (Bremen), Jadea Johnson (Romeoville), Jelani McGregor (Victory Rock Prep) and Walker; cross country runners Jacob Madera (Shepard), Milenkovic and Hannah Raimbault (Sandburg); soccer players Bafia, Canny, Bartlomiej Jaskowski (Stagg), Klein, Kovalskis, Dawid Kurzeja (Stagg), Jacek Malinowski (Stagg), Giselle Mendez (Argo), Jamal Morad (Oak Lawn) and Rosier; softball players Jada Astorga (Eisenhower), Larmon, Loth, Redican, Rush, Thoma and Alexandra Wolcott (Oak Forest); tennis players Erik Astranskas (Stagg), Daghash, Patrick Jerabek (Lockport), Laran and Schultz; and volleyball players Giblin and Amber Kingston (Oak Forest).

"These are the honors we look forward to every year when our student-athletes demonstrate their tenacity in the classroom. Seeing them excel through their education and in their sport reflects positively on the hard work they put in and how much effort the Moraine Valley Athletics staff, faculty and other departments contribute to this success. This year, we have even more student-athletes earning these academic honors,” said General McArthur III, Moraine Valley Athletics director. “I’m incredibly proud of our student-athletes and how they continue to represent Moraine Valley and the Athletics Department.”

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