COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The NJCAA national office announced Thursday a record-number 6,006 student-athletes earned distinction on one of three prestigious 2016-17 NJCAA All-Academic Teams following their success in the classroom.

Northwest had 41 student-athletes earn recognition, third-most in the MACJC behind East Central (50) and Gulf Coast (43), after boasting 43 selections during the 2015-16 academic year.

NJCAA All-Academic First Team honors (4.0 GPA) went to Brooks Boolos (baseball), JaKayla Johnson (women's basketball), James Longmire (men's soccer), Jordan Volner (baseball), Kat Holley (softball) and Zoe Saraiva (women's soccer).

Receiving NJCAA All-Academic Second Team recognition (3.80-3.99 GPA) were Alex Shepard (men's basketball), Alexis Winters (softball), Benny Benson (football), Christian Clements (men's soccer), Dalton Young (men's tennis), David Raymundo (men's soccer), Emily Standard (women's tennis), Harley Smith (softball), Harlie Ray (soccer/tennis), Janesha Johnson (women's basketball), Jarod Wright (baseball), Kendall Akerson (softball), Mary Catherine Hutchens (women's soccer), Mike McGhee (football), Sarah Taylor (softball), Spencer Cayten (baseball) and Zak Harbin (men's tennis).

NJCAA All-Academic Third Team members (3.60-3.79 GPA) were Aaron Meek (men's soccer), Alex Norwood Jr. (football), Ally Judkins (softball), BrayLee Landreth (women's basketball), Bryant Young (men's soccer), Chrissah Shaw (women's basketball), Clinton Moses (men's basketball), Dakota Dailey (baseball/basketball), Damien Lewis (football), Danielle Ratliff (women's basketball), Darius Thomas (football), Devon Thomas (men's golf), Joshua Stephenson (men's tennis), Justin Milam (baseball), Keith Brown Jr. (football), Robert Mims (men's soccer), Sarah Craig (softball) and Sierra Lasher (women's soccer).   

With over 59,000 student-athletes participating in the NJCAA for the 2016-17 academic year, 10.1 percent earned a slot on one of the three highly regarded All-Academic Teams – a significant increase from the last year's record number of 7.9 percent.

Several changes have been made to the NJCAA's academic student-athlete awards program in recent years. Prior to the start of the 2015-16 season, the association modified the awards program to allow first-year student-athletes to be considered if they met the criteria of completing 24 semester-hours (or 36 quarter-hours). This change led to the rise in total award winners the past two years.

A total of 1,333 student-athletes qualified for First Team accolades (4.0 GPA), shattering the previous record of 663 set last year. New records were also established in the other two award designations as 1,992 student-athletes earned Second Team honors and a total of 2,681 individuals qualified for inclusion on the Third Team.

The NJCAA has been annually recognizing the academic success of its student-athletes since 1983.

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