Wallace State softball players Paige Rowland, Victoria Frith each earn NJCAA Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence; four WSCC teams achieve All-Academic Team status

HANCEVILLE – Wallace State softball student-athletes Paige Rowland and Victoria Frith are National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence recipients for the 2012-13 season, in the list of individual academic honorees announced Wednesday by the NJCAA.
Rowland and Frith achieved the NJCAA’s highest academic recognition for a student-athlete after each finished the 2012-13 academic year with a 4.0 GPA. Rowland and Frith both excelled on the softball field as well during the 2013 season, helping the Lady Lions capture their second NJCAA Division I softball national title and the program’s sixth state championship in seven seasons. Rowland, a catcher from Eufaula, hit .389 with 11 homers, while Frith, a shortstop from Grissom High, batted .330 with 46 runs scored and 20 stolen bases.
Rowland and Frith were among eight Wallace State athletes recognized for their academic feats. Volleyball’s EA Shaver (3.91) and Bekah Myers (3.9) and softball’s Hali Presley (3.81) were named NJCAA Superior Academic Achievement honorees for compiling a GPA between 3.80-3.99. Exemplary Academic Achievement recipients (3.60-3.79) were softball’s Libby Olinger (3.69) and Elizabeth Jordan (3.69) and volleyball’s Erica Baker (3.67).
Meanwhile, Wallace State also had four programs achieve NJCAA All-Academic Team status for the 2012-13 campaign.
Wallace State’s national champion softball team compiled the college’s highest mark, finishing fifth in the country with a cumulative 3.48 GPA. The softball team is coached by Jayne Clem.
Randy Daniel’s four-time defending state champion volleyball team had the next highest total with a 3.29 GPA.
Wallace State’s golf team, coached by Dan York, finished with a 3.15 GPA, while the women’s basketball team put together a cumulative 3.10 GPA. Women’s basketball is coached by Ron Burdette.
Wallace State golf is only three years removed from earning the nation’s top GPA and being named the NJCAA Academic Team of the Year in its sport. The softball team accomplished the feat four years ago.
A team has to achieve a 3.0 GPA to be designated as a NJCAA All-Academic Team.
For more information about Wallace State athletics, visit wallacestate.edu.