The first round of California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Academic Honor Roll awards was announced Friday, with a healthy number of Chico State student-athletes competing in 2021 fall sports programs honored for their high classroom standards. Twenty-four Wildcats taking part in men's and women's cross country, volleyball, and men's and women's soccer were among 360 student-athletes in the 12-school conference to earn CCAA Fall All-Academic accolades.
Friday's announcement marks the third straight year and fifth time in the last six that at least 23 Chico State student-athletes have been honored since the CCAA debuted the fall academic awards eight years ago. Formerly known as the CCAA Fall All-Academic award, Chico State totaled 18 recipients in both 2014 and 2015, with 23 'Cats receiving the award in 2016. Twenty-four Wildcats earned CCAA Fall academic honors in 2017, followed by 16 in 2018, 26 in 2019, and a school record 36 in 2020.
Of the individual sports programs, the Chico State volleyball team led the way with eight athletes named to the CCAA Fall Academic Honor Roll, followed by women's soccer with five recipients. Both the Wildcat women's cross country team and men's soccer team featured four student-athletes earning conference accolades, while the men's cross country team rounded out the 'Cats' award winners with three harriers named to the Fall Academic Honor Roll.
Chico State men's cross country runner Wyatt Baxter and Sarah Emigh of the women's soccer team received their fourth fall academic honor, while six Chico State recipients—Ali Collins, Kennedy Greenwood, Matthew Herrera, Makaela Keeve, Gretta Kirkby, and Anais Mayo—earned CCAA Fall Academic Honor Roll accolades for the third time. Eleven others—Esmeralda Aguayo Ruiz, Hunter Casperson, Gracie Dupuis, Susanna Garcia, Mackenzie Gill, Emma Hirschkorn, Donovan Jackson, Camille Lidster, Hannah Ryan, Grace Shepherd, and Dylan White—received their second consecutive Fall Academic Honor Roll award.
To qualify for the CCAA Fall Academic Honor Roll, student-athletes must be of at least sophomore standing (including graduate students), own a 3.3 cumulative grade-point average or better, and have been a member of a conference-sponsored fall sport.
Friday's CCAA Academic Honor Roll awards spotlight fall sports competitors, with men's and women's basketball players recognized in the spring. Men's and women's golf, baseball, softball, and men's and women's track & field student-athletes will be honored at the conclusion of the academic year. This is in addition to the existing CCAA All-Academic awards that will be announced this summer, encompassing the entire 2021–22 academic year.
Chico State athletes winning CCAA All-Academic awards for the 2021 fall sports
season:
Men's Cross Country—Wyatt Baxter***, Matthew Herrera**, and Dylan White*.
Women's Cross Country—Esmeralda Aguayo Ruiz*, Gracie Dupuis*, Avery Lambrite, and Hannah Ryan*.
Men's Soccer—Donovan Jackson*, Anais Mayo**, Cooper Renteria, and Noah Ross.
Women's Soccer—Hunter Casperson*, Sarah Emigh***, Susanna Garcia*, Mackenzie Gill*, and Camille Lidster*.
Volleyball—Ali Collins**, Zoe DiNardo, Kennedy Greenwood**, Emma Hirschkorn*, Kelley Jacome, Makaela Keeve**, Gretta Kirkby**, and Grace Shepherd*.
* Two-time CCAA fall academic award winner
** Three-time CCAA fall academic award winner
*** Four-time CCAA fall academic award winner
