The Division II Athletics Directors Association (D2ADA) recently announced that 12 Shepherd University student-athletes have been named the 2011-12 recipients of the D2ADA Academic Achievement Awards. The Academic Achievement Awards is a program that recognizes the academic accomplishments of student-athletes at the Division II level.

A record number of institutions (118) and student-athletes (4,492) are being recognized for the 2011-12 Academic Achievement Awards. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Association had 557 student-athletes honored, a record-high for the program, followed by the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) with 400 student-athletes being recognized and the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) with 398 student-athletes being acknowledged with this award.

“The D2ADA would like to thank and congratulate the institutions that took part in honoring the record-number of 4,492 student-athletes with 2011-12 Academic Achievement Awards,” stated D2ADA President Anita Barker, director of athletics at Chico State University. “Recognizing and honoring deserving Division II student-athletes is a strategic goal of the D2ADA. This award gives us the platform to showcase these individuals and their efforts in the classroom, as well as on the playing field.”

In order for a student-athlete to receive an Academic Achievement Award, the athletics director of the Division II institution must be a current dues paying member of the D2ADA.

Also, the student-athlete must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale; have attended a minimum of two years (four semesters) of college level work; and, have been an active member of an intercollegiate team during his/her last academic year.

Shepherd University D2ADA Academic Award winners are Jenna Benke – Women’s Lacrosse, Justin Bryan – Men’s Basketball, Robert Hayes Football, Jon Heavner Football, Morgan Johnson – Women’s Basketball, Sricharan Mahavadi – Men’s Tennis, Kasey Mercier Volleyball, Travis Metz – Men’s Golf, Hannah Safren – Women’s Basketball, Al Starlings – Men’s Tennis and Alysha Voytell Softball.