Heartland Conference announces Academic All-HCAC honorees

Heartland Conference announces Academic All-HCAC honorees

BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference has announced the fall honorees for Tom Bohlsen Academic All-HCAC. Academic All-Conference selections have at least a cumulative 3.5 GPA and are varsity athletes.

The cumulative GPA is the student-athlete's GPA at the end of the semester preceding the end of the spring season. The student-athlete has completed the equivalent of a full academic year, full time enrolled, at the institution to be eligible for the Academic All-Conference award.

The award is named after Tom Bohlsen, who served as the HCAC's first commissioner from 1998 to 2008.

Bluffton University saw an astounding 38 fall athletes recognized for their efforts in the classroom! Volleyball led the way with a dozen honorees. Women's Soccer and Men's Soccer were impressive with ten and six honorees, respectively. Cross Country checked in with seven honorees (four men and three women), while three was recognized from football.

Casey Clark (Lima/Central Catholic), Jessie Gibson (Warsaw/River View) and Erin Weisgarber (Bolivar/Tuscarawas Valley) collected Academic All-HCAC honors for the third consecutive season. They were joined by fellow seniors Alyssa Hornback (Fishers, IN/Heritage Christian) and Courtney Zimpfer (Jackson Center). Juniors Carley Lester (Chesapeake) and Katie Kline (Perrysville/Loudonville) were both honored for the second consecutive year, while sophomores Remi Bower (Deshler/Patrick Henry), Sarah Heydinger (Tiro/Buckeye Central), Jessica Lovell (Grove City), Makenzie Speakman (Carroll/Fairfield Christian Academy) and Chelsey Taylor (Hicksville) all collected Academic All-HCAC honors in their first year of eligibility.

Bluffton had seven from the cross country team named Academic All-HCAC following the 2018 season. Jonah Eckert (Terre Haute, Ind./West Vigo) secured his third straight HCAC All-Academic award. Fellow seniors Michael Lehman (West Liberty/West Liberty-Salem) and Joshua Ehlers (Defiance/Tinora) joined Eckert on the men's side. Juniors Alexis Cash (Gaines, MI/Lake Fenton) and Dakota Frost (Edgerton/Hicksville) both earned Academic All-HCAC for the second straight year while sophomores Kimberly Hetrick (Fremont/Ross) and Bailie Barrington (Waynesfield/Waynesfield-Goshen) were honored in their first season of eligibility.

Junior Aubrey Bartel (Newton, KS/Newton) earned her second Academic All-HCAC honor. Senior Skylar Liming (St. Marys/Memorial) along with junior Lauryn Foster-Wheeler (Sidney) and sophomores Danielle Easterday (Barberton), Abigail Newkirk (New Vienna/Fairfield), Caroline Schutz (Rawson/Cory-Rawson), Sydney Staton (Bluffton), Sienna Sullivan (Columbus/Hilliard Davidson), Tajah Upshaw (Lima/Senior) and Hannah Wagner (Cincinnati/Mother of Mercy) collected their first Academic All-HCAC honors this fall.

Six sophomores from Men's Soccer collected Academic All-HCAC recognition in their first season of eligibility: Eric Bender (Vermillion/Lutheran West), Dimitri Giakoumas (Mount Vernon), Joey Grega (LaGrange/Keystone), Connor Kaminicki (Northfield/Nordonia), Colten McCabe (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) and Patrick Spillman (Anderson, IN/Frankton).

Junior Dylan Burkholder (Lima/Bath) notched his second straight honor while sophomore football players Cade McClellan (Edgerton) and Isaac Paine (Pickerington/Fairfield Christian) secured Academic All-HCAC recognition in their first year of eligibility.

Bluffton University is a liberal arts residential campus with undergraduate programs, adult degree completion programs in organizational management and human resource management and master's degree programs in education, organizational management and business administration. Founded in 1899 and affiliated with Mennonite Church USA, Bluffton is located in northwest Ohio. The institution has a growing enrollment of more than 800 students and 16 NCAA Division III athletics teams. Bluffton's hundred-year legacy is expressed today in its enduring values of discovery, community, respect and service that are woven into the academic program and campus life. Bluffton students go into the world prepared for life as well as for their chosen vocation.

-BEAVERS-