Richard Bland Places 12 On NJCAA All-Academic Teams
SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, Va. – Richard Bland College has placed 12 student-athletes on one of three prestigious 2016-17 NJCAA All-Academic Teams following their outstanding successes in the classroom during this past academic year. The Statesmen honorees represent the sports of men's golf, women's golf, men's soccer and softball. Student-athletes must complete 24 semester-hours and attain a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.60 to qualify for one the three academic distinctions.
"I am extremely proud of these Statesmen student-athletes," said RBC Director of Athletics Chuck Moore. "They are the epitome of the type of student-athletes we want representing our college and the athletics department. Success in the classroom is the first goal with all of our student-athletes and I'm thrilled that the NJCAA is recognizing their accomplishments!"
Savannah Porter/Midlothian and Ashley Fritz/North Chesterfield were each named to the NJCAA All-Academic First Team (4.00 GPA). Porter (4.00) is a recent graduate and former member of the Statesmen women's golf team, while Fritz (4.00) completed her first season as a member of the softball team at Richard Bland.
Rodrigo Carvalho/Lisbon, Portugal, Tabby Dabney/Mechanicsville, Katelyn King/Chesterfield and Miguel Ramos/Casal de Cambra, Portugal were each named to the NJCAA All-Academic Second Team (3.80-3.99 GPA). Carvalho (3.87) is a recent graduate and former member of the men's soccer team. Dabney (3.91) is also a recent graduate and former member of the softball team. King (3.88) is another recent graduate and former member of the softball team. Ramos (3.87) completed his first season as a member of the men's soccer team.
Jordan Camacho/Brooklyn, New York, Tomás Fonseca/Torres Vedras, Portugal, Tulio Graciano/Cacapava, Brazil, Sam Smith/Chesterfield, Danny Torres/Bucaramanga, Colombia and Agustin Vassallo/Neuquen, Argentina were each named to the NJCAA All-Academic Third Team (3.60-3.79 GPA). Camacho (3.77) completed his first season as a member of the men's soccer team. Fonseca (3.67) also completed his first season as a member of the men's soccer team. Graciano (3.67) completed his first season as a member of the men's soccer team. Smith (3.74) is a recent graduate and former member of the men's golf team. Torres (3.67) completed his first season as a member of the men's soccer team. Vassallo (3.67) completed his first season as a member of the men's soccer team, as well.
A record-number 6,006 student-athletes earned recognition on one of the three 2016-17 NJCAA All-Academic Teams, including 1,333 on the First Team, shattering the previous record of 663 set last year. New records were also established in the other two award designations as 1,992 earned Second Team honors and 2,681 qualified for the Third Team. Iowa Western Community College received the highest number of honorees for an individual college with 62 award winners.
The NJCAA has been annually recognizing the academic success of its student-athletes since 1983.