PRCC athletes produce top results in fall semester

POPLARVILLE – Pearl River Community College athletes had a tremendous semester in the classroom this past fall, with four of the school’s eight sports boasting a team grade-point average over 3.0.
“Over the past year-and-a-half, we have stressed the importance of academic accountability with our coaches,” said PRCC athletic director Jeff Long.
“We are extremely proud of what our student-athletes have been able to accomplish, and our coaches deserve a lot of credit for emphasizing the importance of academics to our athletes.”
The Wildcat softball team led the way with a team GPA of 3.57. Baseball and women’s soccer were not far behind with a 3.46 for baseball and a 3.41 for women’s soccer. Also, the PRCC rodeo team finished the fall with a 3.02.
And while the Wildcat football team didn’t quite crack the 3.0 barrier, it came close, finishing with a team GPA of 2.92. The Wildcats graduated 22 players from the football program in December, including 16 that signed to play for four-year colleges.
Individually, there were 14 Wildcat athletes who posted a perfect 4.0 in the fall semester.
From softball, 4.0 scholars were Ramey Cochran, Jordan Lee, Alyssa Pinero, Rylee Swilley and Elizabeth Taggard.
Baseball players with a 4.0 were Magruder O’Bannon, Bryce Scott and Dylan Usry. Women’s soccer had a pair of 4.0s, Kayley Fountain and Abigail Henderson.
Other 4.0 athletes were Taylor Anderson from men’s soccer, Tyler Ladner from rodeo, Heath Greenlee from football and Jerrod Rigby from men’s basketball.
“The exciting part is that we can still get better in that area,” said Long. “We will continue to expect our student-athletes to perform to the best of their ability in the classroom as well as on the field of play.”