44 CLC student-athletes receive awards for academic success

A total of 44 student-athletes from the College of Lake County have received awards for attaining at least a 3.0 GPA in the 2015-16 academic year. Two students won the conference's coveted Dick Durant award for attaining a 4.0 GPA.

The awards are distributed by the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC), an eight-college athletic conference that includes CLC, according to Nic Scandrett, athletic director.

Leading the list are two students who attained a 4.0 GPA and received the Dick Durant Sophomore Academic Athlete of the Year Award. The award, which honors a former athletic director at Elgin Community College, is given to scholar-athletes who have achieved the highest GPA for all respective men's and women's sports. Two of the four annual awards were won by CLC students: Hannah Cassiday, a volleyball player and Grant High School graduate, and D.J. Ostrander, a men's basketball player and graduate of the Lighthouse Academy in Lake Villa.

Additionally, the ISCC named 15 CLC student-athletes as Academic Athletes of the Year for earning a 3.00 GPA or higher upon completing 48 or more credit hours. The athletes, along with the high school from which they graduated, are:

Baseball: Dominic Cuevas (Warren Township); Wes Gordon (Warren Township); Miles Mrowiec (home-schooled in Lake Bluff); Derek Nelson (Bradford High School in Kenosha, Wis.); and Nick Seketa (Lakes).

Men's Cross Country: Ryan LaCroix (Antioch)

Men's Soccer: Oswaldo Larasoria (Celegio de Bachilleres del Estad, Mexico); Ricardo Ceja (Vernon Hills); and Juan Pablo Orozco (Libertyville).

Volleyball: Alissa Mathis (Grant) and Ashley Mathis (Grant).

Softball: Nikki Goldstein (Vernon Hills) and Kaleigh Snyder (Grayslake Central).

Women's Soccer: Amanda Gardner (Warren Township).

Women's Tennis: Mary Tsakadze (Vernon Hills).

In addition, 27 student-athletes were recognized as All-Conference Freshman Academic Athletes of the Year for earning a 3.0 GPA or higher upon completing 24 or more credit hours. The recipients are:

Baseball: Jakob Peterson (Barrington); Justin Rivera (Arbor View High School, Las Vegas); John Morgan (Lincoln-Way Central High School, New Lenox, Ill.).

Men's Basketball: Daniel Conway (Mundelein) and Jovan Jokic (Warren Township).

Men's Cross Country: Jeffrey Brundidge (Grant), Thomas Castino (Antioch) and Andrew Rodriguez (Grayslake North).

Men's Golf: Bradley Efflandt (Wauconda), Joel and Joshua Leonard (both home-schooled in Libertyville).

Men's Soccer: Gavin Amburn (Grayslake Central High School).

Softball: Violet Dinger (Lakes).

Volleyball: Becky Cassiday (Grant), Monica Donald (Zion-Benton), Morgan Phillips (Lakes) and Sasha Polich (Antioch).

Women's Basketball: Christine Koterman (Grayslake North) and Kristen O'Brien (Warren Township).

Women's Cross Country: Isabella Bianchini (Lake Forest), Gavriella Kahn (Warren Township) and Kathrine Suopys (Lakes).

Women's Soccer: Jocelyn Rodriguez (Grayslake North), Brianna Rosales (Lakes) and Kylie Schultz (Vernon Hills).

Women's Tennis: Sarah Adornetto (Grayslake Central) and Brenda Zador (Grayslake Central).

"The list of award recipients shows that our Lancer student athletes have had a tremendous amount of success this year, both academically and athletically," Scandrett said. "The college faculty, staff and administrators sincerely appreciate all of the students' hard work, and we will continue to do whatever it takes to help present and future students be successful."