Moraine Valley student-athletes not only demonstrated their athletic skills, but also their intelligence in the classroom this past year. Among nearly 60,000 student-athletes who compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), 24 Moraine Valley student-athletes were recognized with the 2019-20 Academic Student-Athlete Award and four teams earned Academic Team of the Year.

NJCAA Academic Student-Athletes must have a 3.6 GPA or higher after completing at least 24 credits and participate in the college's sport for at least one season. Moraine Valley athletes who received this honor are: Baseball players Brett Renken (Richards) and Christopher Villafuerte (Richards); basketball players Erin Greenfield (Sandburg), Nathan Purcell (Lincoln-Way Central) and Nicole Poole (Sandburg); runners Jaime Funk (Sandburg), Carlos Galvan (Argo), Adali Haro (Eisenhower), Nicole Pannitto (Andrew); soccer players Connor Baker (Sandburg), Madi Davis (Lockport), Hyoungwoo Kim (Japan), Anna Kois (Stagg), Lauren Pikulski (Lockport Township) and Allison Schaar (Schaumburg); softball players Karly Krown (Stagg) and Zoe Supanich (Sandburg); tennis players Julie Andrist (Oak Lawn), Tim Flynn (Marist), Elizabeth Newton (Richards), and Brooke Zielke (Shepard); and volleyball players Amanda Bulow (Oak Lawn), Taylor Bulow (Oak Lawn) and Lauren Gausselin (Sandburg).

The following teams earned the Academic Team of the Year award for having a cumulative 3.0 GPA or higher from the entire school year: women's cross country, men's golf as well as men's and women's tennis.

"We couldn't be more proud of the academic achievements and excellent work by our student-athletes. They represent Moraine Valley and our conference well. Balancing school and sports is quite a challenge for these students, but they worked hard to excel in both. Our Athletics staff also should be recognized for helping our student-athletes stay on track, and I'm grateful to have this team," said Bill Finn, Athletics director.