2016-2017 Mavs Women's Soccer Academic National Champions

Top women’s soccer academic team in the nation with a grade-point average of 3.56 are Lady Mavericks (front r, l-r) Memory Phiri, Megan Mayfield, Jaycie Routon, Hannah Evans, Mason Richardson, Abigail Resendiz and Hannah Grant. Row 2 (l-r) are Mea Gordon, Keylee Kirk, Kariss Dunson, Madeline Royse, Ashleigh Chapman, Riley Burke and Carsyn Hill. Row 3 (l-r) are Rebekah Brantley, Madyson Cassidy, BreAnn Tolleson, Rylie Howey, Rachel Brantley, Morgan Medina and Gifty Ayew Asare. In back (l-r) are Head Coach Dr. Juan de Dios Castillo, Courtney Broughton, Jo McCray, Taylor Sargent, Monica Davis, Kaley Whitworth and Assistant Coach Lauren Robb. (NOC Photo by John Pickard)
Top women’s soccer academic team in the nation with a grade-point average of 3.56 are Lady Mavericks (front r, l-r) Memory Phiri, Megan Mayfield, Jaycie Routon, Hannah Evans, Mason Richardson, Abigail Resendiz and Hannah Grant. Row 2 (l-r) are Mea Gordon, Keylee Kirk, Kariss Dunson, Madeline Royse, Ashleigh Chapman, Riley Burke and Carsyn Hill. Row 3 (l-r) are Rebekah Brantley, Madyson Cassidy, BreAnn Tolleson, Rylie Howey, Rachel Brantley, Morgan Medina and Gifty Ayew Asare. In back (l-r) are Head Coach Dr. Juan de Dios Castillo, Courtney Broughton, Jo McCray, Taylor Sargent, Monica Davis, Kaley Whitworth and Assistant Coach Lauren Robb. (NOC Photo by John Pickard)
Posted: Jul 27, 2017

Two Northern Oklahoma College sports teams have been named by the NJCAA as the Academic Team of the Year in their respective sport.

            The women's soccer team at NOC Tonkawa and the women's basketball team at NOC Enid are among only 13 women's teams in the nation honored for accumulating the highest grade-point average in their respective sport while meeting the minimum 3.00 requirement. Nominations are submitted by each team's respective institution, and 740 teams recorded a 3.00 GPA or higher for the 2016-17 season.

            The soccer team achieved a team GPA of 3.56.

            Coached by Dr. Juan de Dios Castillo, the Lady Mavs posted a 19-2-1season record and were ranked nationally in the top three by the NJCAA. The women won the OCAC Conference and NJCAA Region 2 championships, were NJCAA District runner-up and placed one member, BreAnn Tolleson of The Colony, Texas, on the All-American Second Team.

Thirteen members were named Student-Athlete Academic All-Americans.

"I have been blessed with the opportunity that Dr. Evans and Jeremy gave me to coach at NOC," said Dr. Juan de Dios Castillo, head women's soccer coach. "This is a team effort and I want to thank everyone that is a part of NOC for helping the girls achieve this.

"The student-athletes in our team worked very hard all year on and off the field to achieve the goals we talked about before the season started. We will continue to pursue excellence in the classroom and on the field. I am very proud of my girls and I want to thank my assistant coach Lauren Robb for her hard work as well."

Scott Morris coaches the Enid Lady Jets, who earned a team GPA of 3.68. With a season record of 22-6, the team was ranked nationally in the top 15 by the NJCAA, earned OCAC Conference runner-up and was NJCAA Region 2 runner-up. Ten team members were named Student-Athlete All-Americans.

            Jeremy Hise, NOC athletic director, noted that NOC athletes had achieved a department GPA of 3.12 and 49 student-athletes were named as Academic All-Americans. Seven of the college's 10 teams were recognized for academic excellence by the NJCAA for the 2016-17 season. In addition to the two Academic Teams of the Year, five teams earned honorable mention in their sports.

            "We are extremely proud of our student-athletes and appreciate our coaches' and athletic director's emphasizing academic success," said Dr. Cheryl Evans, NOC president

 "Academics are priority number one in the Northern Athletic Department," Hise noted. "We are extremely proud of all of our student-athletes and the hard work they have put into the classroom and on the playing field.

"While academics are our number one priority, we still want to win games. Not only did these two teams win academic national championships, but they also competed for conference and regional championships as well. You do not have to sacrifice success in one area for success in the other, and that is evident by the high level of success by these two teams.  We are very fortunate and honored to have great leaders like Dr. Juan de Dios Castillo and Scott Morris coaching our student-athletes at Northern.

                 "We have a tremendous amount of support for our student-athletes at Northern," Hise said, "starting with an administration that values academics and winning, a faculty and staff that invest a great deal of time and effort into all of our students at Northern and great coaches who continuously emphasize the importance of education and earning a degree."

Photographs of the Academic Teams of the Year can be seen on the NJCAA website by clicking on Awards and then Academic Team Awards.

Since 1993, the NJCAA has recognized the team with the highest overall grade-point average for their sport and gender with the NJCAA Academic Team of the Year Award. Teams that qualify with an overall grade-point average of at least a 3.0 receive honorable mention recognition.