COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Four student-athletes from the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Athletics program received individual academic honors from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).

NJCAA officials announced the honorees Tuesday, June 19, from their headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Grizzly Volleyball players Colbi Goff of Mtn. View and Abby Hanger of Belleview, Ill., and Grizzly Basketball player Nathane Simniok of Forsyth received the NJCAA Award for Exemplary Academic Achievement for maintaining grade point averages (GPA) between 3.60 to 3.79 on a 4.0 scale during the recent academic year.

Grizzly Basketball player Kevin Nelson, Albuquerque, N.M., received the NJCAA Award for Superior Academic Achievement for maintaining a GPA between 3.80 to 3.99 on a 4.0 scale.

“I am extremely proud of Colbi and Abby,” Grizzly Volleyball Head Coach Paula Wiedemann said.  “This is the culmination of a lot of work put in by these two players and everyone who supports their efforts as student-athletes.”

Wiedemann noted Hanger received first-team All-Region 16 Team honors this past season for her efforts on the court.

“We are very proud of these two young men,” added Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker.  “They have epitomized the term ‘student-athlete’ during their time at Missouri State-West Plains.

Walker pointed out Simniok, who received All-Region 16 Team honors this season, was the team’s third leading scorer and leading rebounder this past season.  Nelson was the team’s fourth leading scorer and its assists leader, the coach added.

“These young men are the total package as people, as students and as basketball players,” Walker said.

Both Wiedemann and Walker praised the university’s support staff and the Promoting Academic Success With Student Athletes (PAWS) Program, which provides subject-based tutoring, nightly study halls and weekly academic advisement sessions for student-athletes.

“These honors are shared with the staff of the Student Advisement & Academic Support (SAAS) Center, the PAWS Program and the faculty who work to make our players the best students possible,” Wiedemann said.  “Everyone does a fantastic job!”

Goff and Hanger are the 12th and 13th Grizzly Volleyball players to receive NJCAA academic honors, and Nelson and Simniok are the third and fourth Grizzly Basketball players to receive NJCAA academic honors.

NJCAA officials said over 1,680 student-athletes met the requirements for individual academic honors this past year.  Nearly 60,000 student-athletes competed on over 3,500 teams in 28 different sports at the NJCAA level in 2011-2012.  This is the 29th year NJCAA officials have recognized the success of its student-athletes in the classroom.

For more information about awards and honors handed out by the NJCAA, visit www.njcaa.org.  For more information about the Missouri State-West Plains Grizzly Athletics program, visit http://wp.missouristate.edu/grizzly/.

Filed Under: Basketball · Volleyball