East Mississippi earns NFCA's top academic softball team honor for second consecutive year
The East Mississippi Community College softball program has swept national academic team accolades for the second straight year by most recently claiming top honors among the nation's junior college programs in the 2013-14 National Fastpitch Coaches Association's All-Academic Team Rankings, released this week by the NFCA office headquartered in Louisville, Ky.
SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College softball program has swept national academic team accolades for the second straight year by most recently claiming top honors among the nation's junior college programs in the 2013-14 National Fastpitch Coaches Association's All-Academic Team Rankings, released this week by the NFCA office headquartered in Louisville, Ky.
Head softball coach Kyndall White's EMCC Lady Lions repeated their NFCA academic team honor by topping all eligible junior colleges nationally with a collective 3.59 team grade point average compiled during the 2013-14 school year. Trailing East Mississippi within the NFCA's 2013-14 junior college division listing were Northwest Mississippi CC (3.49 GPA), Southern Union State CC (3.44), Allen CC (3.42), and Itawamba CC (3.40).
Earlier this summer, East Mississippi Community College previously earned the distinction of repeating as NJCAA Softball Academic Team of the Year for having the nation's highest cumulative grade point average (3.57) among the 369 schools that compete in softball at the junior college level.
"I am extremely proud of the academic success our softball student-athletes have achieved these past two years," said White, who is entering her third season at the EMCC softball helm. "An academic standard has been established here at East Mississippi Community College and we will aim to maintain that highest standard throughout the years to come."
EMCC's current string of back-to-back national academic titles for softball team GPA began during the 2012-13 academic year when the Lady Lions initially topped both the NJCAA and NFCA academic listings with respective team grade point averages of 3.59 and 3.568. The NJCAA's cumulative grade point average numbers are career-inclusive for all players, while the NFCA's figures are reflective of only the most recent academic year.
In addition, East Mississippi's Lady Lion softball program has collected NJCAA All-Academic Team recognition each of the past five years for annually having composite team GPAs of 3.00 or higher. During the 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years, the EMCC softball team posted back-to-back No. 5 national academic team rankings within the NFCA's junior college division.
"We would also like to recognize and thank Brittany Wagner (EMCC's Athletic Instructional Advisor/Compliance Assistant) for her expertise, diligence and guidance along the way to help all of our student-athletes here at EMCC reach their full potential academically," White continued.
In the other university/college divisions of the 2013-14 NFCA All-Academic Team Rankings, top honors went to: Nebraska-Omaha for NCAA Division I (3.67 GPA); Adelphi University for NCAA Division II (3.72); Emerson College for NCAA Division III (3.64); and William Carey University for NAIA (3.70).