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State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota
SCF Athletics Athletes and Teams Earn NJCAA Academic Awards
July 24, 2025

SCF Athletics Athletes and Teams Earn NJCAA Academic Awards

The National Junior College Athletic Association [NJCAA] announced 15 State College of Florida [SCF] Athletes were named to the NJCAA All-Academic Teams and all 4 SCF sports programs received Academic Teams of the Year honors.

15 athletes spread amongst all 4 sports were named to the First, Second, and Third All-Academic Teams. To receive First Team All-Academic honors, athletes must achieve a GPA of 4.0. Second Team honorees must maintain a GPA between 3.8 and 3.99. Third team athletes must maintain a GPA between 3.6 and 3.79. First Team All-Academic Team honorees for the 2024-25 season include Emma Acedo Lapieza (Beach Volleyball) and Aleksandra Wrobel (Beach Volleyball). Second Team honorees include Ben Ryan (Baseball), Hayden Gustavson (Baseball), Oscar Hernandez (Baseball), Kamryn Martinez (Softball), Sabrina Calhoun (Court Volleyball), Ericka Freeman (Court Volleyball), Katrina Tallo (Court Volleyball), and Isabela Cardenas Estrella (Beach Volleyball). Third team honorees include Mattie Counts (Baseball), Mario Trivella (Baseball), James Kleiven (Baseball), Holden Brauner (Baseball), and Josie Alderson (Softball).

All 4 sports programs (Baseball, Softball, Court Volleyball, and Beach Volleyball) earned NJCAA Academic Teams of the Year honors. Each program earned a cumulative 3.0 GPA or greater for the 2024-25 school year. Beach Volleyball led the department with a 3.44 GPA. Beach Volleyball was followed by Court Volleyball (3.27 GPA), Baseball (3.23 GPA), and Softball (3.09 GPA).

The 2024-25 school year marked the third consecutive year during Athletics Director Nick Cichielo's tenure in which all sports teams achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or greater. "Academics are a huge priority in this department", said Athletics Director, Nick Cichielo. "I have drilled the importance of academic success into the athletes and the coaching staffs. Year-after-year, the department performs at a high level academically. The buy in from the athletes to the coaches is remarkable. I could not be prouder."