Moraine Valley student-athletes earn NJCAA and Skyway Conference academic awards

The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)recognized 27 Moraine Valley Community College student-athletes with the 2025-26 All-Academic Team Award while three teams earned Academic Team of the Year. Additionally, 78 students were named Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) All-Academic Athletes of the Year.

NJCAA All-Academic Team student-athletes must have a 3.6 GPA or higher after completing at least 24 credits and participating in the college’s sport for at least one season. Nearly 14,000 student-athletes around the country earned this honor. All-Academic First Team athletes have a 4.0 GPA, Second Team requires a 3.80 to 3.99 GPA and Third Team requires a 3.60 to 3.79 GPA. Moraine Valley athletes who received this honor are:

First Team- basketball player Lawson Walker (homeschooled); soccer players Heather Canny (Lockport), Lacey Chapman (Andrew); cross country runner Eva Zimmerman (Sandburg); softball players Madelynn Larmon (Oak Forest), Estelle Loth (Sandburg), Annabelle Rush (Oak Forest); tennis player Mohammad Qawasmeh (Dar-Al-Hekma); and volleyball players Chloe McGregor-Paterson (Sandburg), Amanda Pocica (Stagg), Erin Quigley (Lincoln-Way West), Cameron Szyszka (Sandburg)

Second Team- baseball players John Maude (Providence), Jared Velez (Lincoln-Way East); basketball players Collin Miller (Lockport), Ali Oralkan (Turkey), Miracle Shelton (Richards), Mikayla Summey (Andrew); cross country runner Matthew Busch (Stagg); golfer Fionn Gormley (Tinley Park); soccer player Rachel Rosier (Lockport); and tennis players Erik Astranskas (Stagg), Sydney Rutkowski (Lincoln-Way West)

Third Team- cross country runner Andrew Leon (Oak Lawn); golfer Anderson Miz (Stagg); soccer player Taylor London (Andrew); tennis player Aileen Casey (Lockport)

Women’s tennis (cumulative 3.51 GPA), men’s tennis (3.16) and golf (3.13) earned the NJCAA Academic Team of the Year Award among over 1,400 teams across the country that had a 3.0 GPA or higher for the academic year.

To earn the ISCC distinction, students must have earned a 3.0 GPA or higher after completing at least 24 credit hours while participating in one of the college’s 12 sports. Moraine Valley recipients are: baseball players Carter Benoit (Lincoln-Way Central), Michael Bielski (St. Laurence), Gavin Cummings (Lincoln-Way Central), Jack Greaney (Lockport), Maude, Matheiu Montefusco (Nazareth Academy), Caston Norris (Morris), Andrew Phelan (Lemont), Rafael Pivoney (Tinley Park), Erich Radzinski (Glenbard West), Will Swierzynski (Reavis), Velez; basketball players Chris Bogun (Stagg), Samantha Cortez (Bremen), Danielle Dempsey (Oak Lawn), Laila Houseworth (Romeoville), Jadea Johnson (Romeoville), Kyziah Lewis (Evergreen Park), Miller, Oralkan, Shelton, Reggie Strong (Orr Academy), Summey, Oswaldo Rodriguez (Reavis), Walker; cross country runners Busch, Leon, Jacob Madera (Shepard), Gavin Rybicki (Oak Lawn), Jacob Silva (Argo), Josue Trujillo (Reavis), Zimmerman; golfers Gormley, Miz, Rory Moran (Lincoln-Way East), Dominick Rallo (Hinsdale South); soccer players Ali Abusini (Andrew), Jazmine Almazan (Eisenhower), Josie Ayala (Bloom), Peter Baffoe-Blankson (Saint Hubert Seminary), Chapan, Dawid Kurzeja (Stagg), Jacob Lesnikowski (Stagg), London, Yoseline Lopez-Chihuahua (Kennedy), Brian McCracken (Lincoln-Way East), Ricardo Mejia (Solorio Academy), Giselle Mendez (Argo), Diego Ochoa (Reavis), Hala Othman (Stagg), Rosier, Julian Soto (Morton West), Madeline Walsh (Oak Forest); softball players Jada Astorga (Eisenhower), Teagan Krzystof (Oak Lawn), Larmon, Loth, Abigail Mrskos (Evergreen Park), Quigley, Rush, Brooklynn Sedlak (Shepard), Haley Tracy (Sandburg), Abigail Trendle (De La Salle), Jill Zodrow (Lockport); tennis players Astranskas, Casey, Zachary DeMarco (Lockport), Marietta Farraj (Stagg), Tamera Farraj (Stagg), Eliza Janik (Oak Lawn), Rutkowski, Malachi Soto (Brother Rice); and volleyball players Tegan Colyer (Chicago Christian), Amber Kingston (Oak Forest), McGregor-Paterson, Pocica, Millie Redican (Oak Forest), Szyszka.

Pocica and Walker also were awarded the ISCC Dick Durrant Sophomore Academic Athlete of the Year Award for earning a 4.0 GPA.

"We are exceptionally proud of all these Moraine Valley student-athletes who have worked hard in the classroom, and which the Athletics Department always emphasizes,” said General McArthur III, Moraine Valley Athletics director. “It is no easy feat to be a full-time student and athlete, some of whom also hold jobs. However, it is the collective efforts of the students, coaches, Athletics staff, college support development and faculty that yield such impressive results and is highly representative of Moraine Valley.”