The NJCAA recognized 30 Moraine Valley student-athletes with the 2023-24 All-Academic Team Award while four teams earned Academic Team of the Year. Additionally, 24 students were named Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) All-Academic Athletes of the Year, and 38 freshmen were named All-Conference Freshmen Academic Athletes of the Year.
NJCAA All-Academic Team 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. Over 12,000 student-athletes around the country earned this honor. All-Academic First Team athletes have a 4.0 GPA, Second Team has a 3.8 to 3.99 GPA and Third Team has a 3.6 to 3.79 GPA. Moraine Valley athletes who received this honor are:
First Team- cross country runner Robert Slezak (Oak Lawn); soccer player Matthew Rosier (Lockport Township); softball player Riley Evoy (Shepard); and tennis players Ewelina Dabrowski (Argo) and Henry Witek (Andrew)
Second Team- golfers Dan Davila (Argo) and Kyle Kuchel (Sandburg); soccer players Horacio Gomez (STEM Magnet Academy) and Elena Popovic (Shepard); softball player Cassidy Ostema (Sandburg); and tennis players Allyson English (Oak Forest) and John Kenny (Lincoln-Way East)
Third Team- baseball players Niko Mastoras (Lockport Township) and Dimitri Spatharakis (Lemont); cross country runners Mariah Karamagianis (Sandburg) and Andrew Sima (Shepard); golfer Ryan Flynders (Hinsdale South); soccer players Jose Aceves (Oak Lawn), Olivia Jeziorczak (Richards), Niko Kunz (Sandburg), Natalia Ochab (Stagg) and Ytati Roca (Oak Forest); tennis players Erica Chapan (Andrew), Maya Morris (Sandburg) and Izabella Slezakova (Stagg); and volleyball players Lily Avelar (Beecher), Brooklyn Condon (Lincoln-Way Central), Sophia Davidson (Marist), Ava Pequette (Manteno) and Mary Zielinski (Stagg)
Men's (cumulative 3.10 GPA) and women's (3.68) tennis as well as golf (3.19) and volleyball (3.28) earned the NJCAA Academic Team of the Year Award among 1,194 teams across the country that had a 3.0 GPA or higher for the academic year.
To earn the ISCC distinction, students must have earned a 3.0 GPA or higher after completing at least 48 credit hours while participating in one of the college's 12 sports. Moraine Valley recipients are: baseball players Nomar Areizaga (Frederick Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center), Jack Hoh (Lincoln-Way East) and Arnoldo Velazquez (Lockport Township); basketball players Ahmad Jarad (Stagg) and David Reyes (Oak Lawn); golfers Davila and David Prim (Oak Forest); soccer players Dyani Calderon (Kennedy), Jada Cunningham (Stagg), Karina De La Torre (Argo), Mark-Vitaily Hul (Ukraine), Kostandino Latka (Shepard), Ochab, Roca and Rosier; softball players Evoy, Mya Granados (Evergreen Park) and Ostema; tennis players Chapan, Slezakova and Witek; and volleyball players Kaila Butvilas (Shepard), Colleen Clancy (Oak Forest) and Condon.
Evoy, Rosier and Witek also were awarded the ISCC Dick Durrant Sophomore Academic Athlete of the Year Award for earning a 4.0 GPA.
The All-Conference Freshmen Academic Athletes completed at least 24 credit hours with a 3.0 GPA or higher. Moraine Valley recipients are: baseball players Emmet Barry (Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences), John Dytrych (Stagg), Mastoras and Spatharakis; basketball players Olivia Baxa (Oak Forest) and Deniza Fuentes (Richards); cross country runners Lizbeth Juarez-Castillo (Sandburg), Karamagianis, Annabel Lipkie (Stagg), Sima and Slezak; golfers Flynders, Kuchel and Joey O'Brien (Lincoln-Way West); soccer players Aceves, Rylan Decker (Lincoln-Way West), Gomez, Jeziorczak, Kunz, Abdallah Omar (Stagg), Akram Ouarerhni (Oak Lawn), Popovic and Hailee Ruelas (Oak Forest); softball players Jolene Anderson (Romeoville) and Emma Hansen (Andrew); tennis players Dabrowski, English, Kenny, Holly McGrath (Shepard), Morris, Jaykumar Patel (Oak Forest), Ujwal Patel (Oak Forest) and Dhrumil Prajapati (Oak Forest); and volleyball players Avelar, Davidson, Cayla Neville (Oak Lawn), Pequette and Zielinski.
"We strive for our student-athletes to excel in the classroom and their sport, which is recognized through these academic honors. It reflects positively on the hard work our student-athletes are putting in and how much effort the Moraine Valley Athletics staff, faculty and other departments are contributing to this success. I'm proud of our student-athletes, their tenacity, and how they continue to represent Moraine Valley and the Athletics Department," said General McArthur III, Moraine Valley Athletics director.