Nineteen CCC-Columbus student-athletes have been recognized by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) with the presentation of the 2015-16 NJCAA Academic Student-Athlete Awards. In total, the NJCAA recognized a record-number 4,587 student-athletes for their success in the classroom.

Five CCC-Columbus student-athletes earned the highest honor – the Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence – after earning a 4.0 GPA. CCC-Columbus posted the highest number of Pinnacle Award winners of all Nebraska junior colleges that participate in intercollegiate athletics. The Pinnacle Award winners from CCC-Columbus are Alyssa Thege (volleyball), Amber Mazankowski (volleyball), Carsen Nelson (softball), Megan Fiala (basketball), and Riley Dorn (volleyball).

Superior Academic Achievement Awards (3.8 – 3.99 GPA) were bestowed upon eight Raiders athletes. They are Cassidy Edwards (softball and basketball), Jayd Roberts (softball), Logan Fleming (golf), Luke Cadzow (basketball), Madison Kucera (softball), Maggie Adney (basketball), Marco Fabietti (basketball) and Monica Gotschall (softball).

Rounding out the NJCAA Academic Student-Athlete Award winners from CCC-Columbus are six student-athletes who garnered the Exemplary Academic Achievement Award (3.6 – 3.79 GPA). The list includes Hillary Thege (volleyball), Isaac Purcell (basketball), Jorge Lopez (soccer), Louise Sjuts (basketball), Paige Higginbotham (basketball), and Payton Chohon (volleyball).

"We are so very proud of our athletes on and off the field or court. They are not just performing well on the playing field, but they are also performing where it really counts, in the classroom," said Raiders athletic director Jack Gutierrez. "In addition, we are equally proud of our 34 graduates who earned their degrees this past spring."

In a change from previous years, first-year student-athletes with at least 24 semester-hours or 36 quarter-hours became eligible for the awards in 2015-16. This modification to the award qualifications led to a 133 percent increase in the number of student-athletes earning national recognition for their academic achievements.

Nationally, of the student-athletes honored, a record 663 were presented the NJCAA Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence after posting a 4.0 GPA. A total of 1,610 individuals earned the Superior Academic Achievement Award, while an additional 2,314 received the Exemplary Academic Achievement Award – both setting new records.