October 4, 2007

TIGER SOFTBALL 13th BEST GPA IN AMERICA

BOONEVILLE, Miss.--  Northeast Mississippi Community College’s fastpitch softball team has been recognized by the National Fastpitch Coach’s Association for sporting the 13th highest GPA among community college softball teams in America.

Jody Long’s Tigers finished the 2006-07 school year with a team grade point average of 3.206. Western Texas College led all JUCO’s with a 3.5 team GPA. The only other MACJC (Mississippi Association of Community/Junior Colleges) school represented in the nation’s top 25 was Meridian Community College with a 2.803 team GPA, 25th best in the nation.

“Coaches talk all the time about working hard on and off the field,” Long said. “It sounds like a cliché, but we believe that here at Northeast, and our ladies have worked extremely hard in the classroom. It’s something that we all can take pride in. We want our team grade point average to improve every semester and we specifically work toward that.”

First baseman Kelley Hankins (Mooreville) was named a Distinguished Academic All-American by the NJCAA after earning a 3.9 GPA in pre-medical studies at Northeast in 2007.

Four players return to this year’s team having sported GPA’s of 3.5 or higher as freshmen: Lisa Jansen (Frankfurt, Germany) 3.64, Nikki Johnson (Thrasher) 4.0, Shanika Randle (Houston) 3.95, and Maggi Vondenstein (Corinth) 3.90.

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