12 Highland Community College student-athletes named Academic All-American

FREEPORT — Based on academic excellence, a dozen Highland Community College student-athletes have been honored as NJCAA All-Academic American recipients. For student-athletes to qualify for this prestigious award, they must maintain a minimum 3.60 GPA.

“We are very proud of our Highland Cougar student-athletes who have earned NJCAA All-Academic honors. They continue to excel in the classroom, competition, and in the community,” said Director of Athletics Pete Norman. “Our coaches work hard to develop well-rounded student-athletes, and they deserve recognition for their efforts as well. It takes hard work, teamwork, and dedication to be a successful student-athlete. Congratulations to our Cougar student-athletes and coaches.”

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Honorees for each tier of the NJCAA All-Academic American recognitions are listed below.

NJCAA All-Academic First Team: 4.00 GPA

● Alena Asche (Pecatonica), Volleyball and Women’s Basketball

● Brandon Hill (Shorewood), Men’s Basketball

● Meredith Janssen (Shannon), Women’s Basketball

● Karlie Krogman (Forreston), Women’s Basketball

Allan Peterson (Rock City), Golf

● Lucia Pinto Martin (Zamora, Spain), Women’s Basketball

NJCAA All-Academic Second Team: 3.80 - 3.99 GPA

● Stephan Gabriel (Irvington, N.J.), Men’s Basketball - 3.88 GPA

● Kierra Schulz (Lena), Softball and Women’s Basketball - 3.90 GPA