MASON CITY, Iowa – Nine NIACC golfers were named Academic All-Region athletes for the 2011-2012 season, with two men and two women earning top honors.
Chris Hall (Fr., Mason City, IA) and Jeff Arians (So., Clear Lake, IA) on the men’s side, and Sarah Steinauer (Fr., Clarinda, IA) and Mikayla Smith (Fr., Mason City, IA) on the women’s side all earned 1st-Team Academic All-Region honors. Those athletes had a 3.5 or higher grade point average (GPA) this past year.
Four more men and one more woman were named 2nd-Team Academic All-Region, meaning they had a GPA between 3.0 and 3.49. Jared Bottjen (Fr., Clear Lake, IA), Adam Brinkman (So., Clear Lake, IA), Zach Plathe (So., Algona, IA), and Brandon Wood (So., Clear Lake, IA) all reached that standard. Alexandria Eckenrod (Fr., Mason City, IA) was the 2nd-Team choice on the women’s side.
“This is tremendous recognition for these people as they worked extremely hard in the classroom as well as on the golf course,” said NIACC golf coach Chris Frenz. “It’s not easy being a student/athlete when you’re gone a lot but it can be done, and it’s a credit to not only the players, but the instructors here at NIACC that work with our students to make sure that have a quality experience.”
“We take a lot of pride in what we do, both on the course and in the classroom. These students represent themselves and NIACC very well.”