Six Mesa Community College (MCC) Thunderbird teams and 45 athletes earned All-Academic honors from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).
In order to qualify, athletes must have at least a 3.60 GPA during the previous year. Those with 4.0 averages earn First Team recognition, those with a 3.80-3.99 average are on the Second Team, and those with 3.60-3.79 GPAs are Third Team.
This season’s teams earning academic recognition include Women’s Tennis, Men’s Tennis, Women’s Golf, Women’s Cross Country, Women’s Beach Volleyball and Women’s Basketball. A listing of the individual athletes receiving honors can be found at mesatbirdsports.com.
“Excelling in the field or on the court and in the classroom is a challenge, especially for athletes who achieve at the regional and national levels our Thunderbirds do,” said John Mulhern, MCC athletic director. “Our athletes find out quickly that ‘Commit to your education’ is a serious goal in our department and that we strongly support them in achieving academic excellence in addition to honing their athletic skills.”
There are multiple study areas and support services. Coaches monitor the athletes’ academic progress. Each team hosts study sessions and there is an athlete gathering area and a classroom where they can use technology to complete assignments. In the library, athletes sign up when they enter to research or study and sign out when they leave. Coaches can access the library time data.
Since 2006, 393 MCC student athletes have earned NJCAA ALL-Academic honors with a minimum of a 3.6 GPA and 79 teams have been honored for having composite 3.0-or-better GPAs. Mesa has been one of the most dominant programs in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC) for years, either winning or sharing 144 ACCAC Conference Championship and 20 National Team Championships. Thunderbird teams have earned 103 Region I championships.
