The National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association in July named the Riverhawks the All-Academic Team of the Year for women’s lacrosse.
The team, which won the national championship in the spring, had the highest 2022-2023 GPA among all community college women’s lacrosse squads.
The three-time national champions earned a collective GPA of 3.13 for the academic year, and six players won individual academic honors from the NJCAA.
“I think I’m just lucky to have a bunch of student athletes who take their academics very seriously,” head coach Jim Griffiths said.
The NJCAA recognized AACC’s women’s cross country, softball, baseball and golf squads as all-academic teams for earning a collective GPA of 3.0 or higher for the season.
The NJCAA awarded 23 other individual Riverhawks with academic honors.
Every year the NJCAA awards individual athletes either a first, second or third team nomination for their academic performance.
AACC had seven first-team honorees with a 4.0 GPA, six second-team honorees with a 3.8 GPA or higher and 16 third-team honorees with a GPA of at least 3.6.
Bailey Healy, a women’s lacrosse and soccer player, said having such a supportive team really helped her succeed.
“I feel proud for all of us,” Healy, a second-year transfer studies student, said.
Athletic Director Duane Herr said it requires a lot of hard work and dedication to perform well both athletically and academically.
Griffiths agreed.
“I would like to think that the lessons they learn … on the field, at practice, during games, when we’re traveling … the expectations are high and at the end of the day, their success academically only benefits them,” Griffiths, who also coaches women’s soccer, said.
Herr said the common denominators of high-performing athletes and students are work ethic, time management and persistence.
“That group in particular [women’s lacrosse] … I’ve gotten to know their work ethic and character and abilities,” Herr said. “It doesn’t surprise me because I know that they’re all very hard working.”
Griffiths said the team’s academic and athletic performance is “a testament to the quality of [players].”