Multiple Minnesota West teams, athletes recognized for academics

Three Minnesota West Community & Technical College athletic teams have earned national recognition from two organizations — the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) — for their outstanding performance in the classroom.

The Lady Jays' basketball team has earned a place in the WBCA Academic Top 25 and is ranked eighth nationally. Coached by Rosalie “Moz” Hayenga, the team claimed a spot thanks to its team grade-point average of 3.443. The WBCA Academic Top 25 annually honors collegiate women’s basketball programs that maintain the highest combined GPAs among all student-athletes on the roster, showcasing that talent on the court can coexist with discipline in the classroom.

Three Minnesota West teams earned NJCAA All-Academic Honors. The softball team had a 3.39 GPA, volleyball a 3.28 GPA and women’s basketball a 3.20 GPA.

In addition to team achievements, individual student-athletes across the programs earned placement on the NJCAA All-Academic Teams:

First Team (4.0 GPA): Robin Braun, football and soccer; Zach Hayenga, men's basketball; Kate Slettum, volleyball; Takuto Usami, baseball. 

Second Team (3.80–3.99 GPA): Kya Alderson and Thea Anderson, softball; Claire Bohlen, Abby Loosbrock and Lexi Schreurs, volleyball; Cecily Geaghan and Elly Moret, women's basketball; Austin Hansen and Sam Rock, wrestling; Hiroaki Ishiguro, baseball; Per Pekkeriet, soccer; Katrina Schutz, women's basketball and softball; and Raya Van Beek, volleyball and softball.

Third Team (3.60–3.79 GPA): Mason Bruce, Jeonghyeon Han, Jacob Olmanson and Jose Antonio Sandoval Soto, soccer; Marcos Castaneda, Sam Palfini and Abe Paulzine, baseball; Kylee Larson, Lydia Moore and Ally Nelson, volleyball; and Madeline Petersen, softball and volleyball.

**

The top-seeded Windom Pirates moved out in front of the Hadley Buttermakers in game one of their best-of-three Region 10C amateur baseball playoff series with an 8-0 triumph at Island Park.

Game two of the series is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday in Hadley. Game three, if necessary, will be at 2 p.m. Sunday back in Windom.

The Jackson Bulls, meanwhile, opened their best-of-three postseason matchup with the Milroy Irish with a game Wednesday in Milroy. It was the Irish over the Bulls in that one, 2-1. Jackson will host Milroy at 7 p.m. Friday. If the Bulls pick up the victory, there will be a game three at 2 p.m. Sunday at The Irish Yard.