106 Wildcats Named to SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A total of 106 University of Kentucky student-athletes earned a place on the 2023 Spring Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll, announced Thursday by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.
Kentucky placed in the top half of the league in number of honorees. Softball had 18 honorees and tied for the most in that sport in the league, while baseball ranked second in its sport with an impressive 20 honorees. Men’s tennis’ six honorees tied for the second most in the sport, rounding out UK’s top-two finishes. Completing the list, men’s golf had six honorees, while women’s golf had four, women’s tennis had seven, men’s track and field had 22 and women’s track and field had 23.
The 2023 Spring SEC Academic Honor Roll includes the sports of baseball, softball, golf, tennis and track & field. It is based on grades from the 2022 Summer, 2022 Fall, and 2023 Spring terms. Any student‐athlete who participates in a SEC championship sport or a student‐athlete who participates in a sport listed on his/her institution’s NCAA Sports Sponsorship Form is eligible for nomination to the Academic Honor Roll.
In addition to the academic success, Kentucky teams also had success on the fields, courses and tracks of competition in the spring. Baseball had one of its best seasons in program history, hosting a NCAA Regional for the third time and advancing to a NCAA Super Regional for the second time in school history. Softball earned another NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Rachel Lawson as the Wildcats were ranked inside the top 25 a majority of the season. Women’s golf had a historic year by making another NCAA Regional and breaking two school records along the way, led by Golfweek All-Americans Laney Frye and Jensen Castle. Men’s tennis continued to show it’s one of the best programs in the nation, winning the 2023 SEC Tournament and advancing to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season behind a handful of All-America performers. The UK track and field teams combined to earn 23 USTFCCCA All-America honors while the women’s team earned a top-six finish at the NCAA Championships for the second straight season.
UK’s academic honor roll success continues the trend of strong academic news:
- In November, UK student-athletes tied the school record in the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate with a mark of 92 percent. UK has broken or tied the GSR school record every year since the NCAA began measuring that statistic in 2005. UK’s 92 percent is three points above the Division I national average of 89 percent.
- In May, UK Athletics announced that all of its sports teams surpassed the NCAA cut score in its Academic Progress Rate with 16 teams exceeding or tying the national average in their sports. In addition, UK Athletics’ overall APR was higher than the overall national average.
- Earlier this year, UK Athletics announced that a total of 126 current and former University of Kentucky student-athletes – the largest graduating class in school history – were on track to complete academic requirements in May or in the summer term. Adding the 41 student-athletes who graduated in December, UK Athletics is expected to have 167 graduates during the 2022-23 school year. Included in the graduates are 19 Wildcats who are completing their master’s degrees.
- Most recently, UK announced it surpassed its goal of a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average for 22 straight semesters as Wildcat scholarship student-athletes combined to achieve a GPA of 3.325. That high mark was the second highest semester for UK Athletics, finishing just behind the record set in the spring of 2020, which was fueled in part by the pass/fail policy enacted campus-wide in response to challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Individually, 417 Wildcats achieved a GPA of 3.0 or higher, including 115 Cats who reached 4.0 for the semester.
- UK had 13 student-athletes – a school record – named to the official Academic All-America teams selected by the College Sports Communicators organization during the 2022-23 school year.
UK Athletics supports the academic success of its student-athletes through CATS – the first academic center of its kind dedicated solely to serving student-athletes. CATS is an important component of UK’s Student-Athlete Experience division, launched as a renewal of the department’s commitment to prepare student-athletes to enter life after UK.
Kentucky – Sport – Major
Tyler Bosma – Baseball – Supply Chain Management
Devin Burkes – Baseball – Communication
Evan Byers – Baseball – Animal Sciences
Magdiel Cotto – Baseball – Integrated Strategic Communication
Jase Felker – Baseball – Management
Colby Frieda – Baseball – Pre‐Economics
Reed Gannon – Baseball – Finance
Ryan Hagenow – Baseball – Media Arts and Studies
Christian Howe – Baseball – Civil Engineering
Tanner Kim – Baseball – Management
Zachary Lee – Baseball – Sport, Fitness, & Recreation Management
Seth Logue – Baseball – Management
Nolan McCarthy – Baseball – Finance
James McCoy – Baseball – Finance
Mason Moore – Baseball – Communication
Jackson Nove – Baseball – Management
Emilien Pitre – Baseball – Management
Travis Smith – Baseball – Communication
Austin Strickland – Baseball – Management & Marketing
Darren Williams – Baseball – Business Administration
Andrew Clark – M Golf – Economics & Management
Alex Goff – M Golf – Business Administration
Campbell Kremer – M Golf – Management & Sales
Cooper Parks – M Golf – Kinesiology
Tanner Parks – M Golf – Kinesiology
Garrett Wood – M Golf – Business Administration
Jensen Castle – W Golf – Marketing
Laney Frye – W Golf – Management
Marta Lopez‐Echevarria – W Golf – Communication
Maria Villanueva – W Golf – Finance & Economics
Jenna Blanton – Softball – STEM Education
Erin Coffel – Softball – Kinesiology
Taylor Ebbs – Softball – Kinesiology & Communication
Ella Emmert – Softball – Human Health Sciences
Victoria Fragoso – Softball – Management & Marketing
Sloan Gayan – Softball – Kinesiology
Isabelle Harrison – Softball – Sustainable Ag. & Community Food Systems
Meeko Harrison – Softball – Health Promotion
Kayla Kowalik – Softball – Business Administration
Alexia Lacatena – Softball – Art Studio
Hallie Mitchell – Softball – Sustainable Ag. & Community Food Systems
Vanessa Nesby – Softball – Management & Marketing
Stephanie Schoonover – Softball – Kinesiology
Rylea Smith – Softball – Liberal Studies
Kennedy Sullivan – Softball – Liberal Studies
Erica Thulen – Softball – Management & Marketing
Margaret Tobias – Softball – Accounting
Princess Valencia – Softball – Business
Joshua Lapadat – M Tennis – Finance
Alexandre LeBlanc – M Tennis – Management
John Mercer – M Tennis – Business Administration
Heman Nama – M Tennis – Economics
Tate Sandman – M Tennis – Human Health Sciences
Jonathan Sorbo – M Tennis – Management & Marketing
Fiona Arrese Mata – W Tennis – Mechanical Engineering
Elizabeth Eades – W Tennis – Marketing
Lidia Gonzalez Garcia – W Tennis – Biomedical Engineering
Carlota Molina Megias – W Tennis – Business Administration
Maialen Morante Oyague – W Tennis – Business Administration
Elizabeth Stevens – W Tennis – Elementary Education
Florencia Urrutia – W Tennis – Management
Dylan Allen – M Track & Field – Finance
Jake Allen – M Track & Field – Accounting & Finance
Myles Anders – M Track & Field – Human Resource Management
Theo Bachmann – M Track & Field – Communication & Digital Media Design
Michael Browning – M Track & Field – Finance
Ed Causey, III – M Track & Field – US Culture and Business Practices
Keaton Daniel – M Track & Field – Health Promotion
Matthew Duvall – M Track & Field – Management & Marketing
Brian Faust – M Track & Field Public – Financial Management
McLean Griffin – M Track & Field – Finance & Management
Langston Jackson – M Track & Field – Marketing
Alexander Justus – M Track & Field – Finance
Ethan Kern – M Track & Field – Finance & Economics
John Kruzel – M Track & Field – Management
Harper Moore – M Track & Field – Kinesiology
Beck O’Daniel – M Track & Field – Finance
Dalton Shepler – M Track & Field – Biology
Jacob Sobota – M Track & Field – Data Science
Joshua Sobota – M Track & Field – Sport, Fitness, & Recreation Management
Robert Springfield, III – M Track & Field – Kinesiology
Jackson Watts – M Track & Field – Human Health Sciences
Aaron Withrow – M Track & Field – Financial Planning
Margaret Aydt – W Track & Field – Kinesiology
Carolyn Boyke‐Johnson – W Track & Field – Communication
Patrice Cornelious – W Track & Field – Integrated Strategic Communication
Cierra Fogg – W Track & Field – Kinesiology
Victoria Herman – W Track & Field – Finance
Kaylie Kenne – W Track & Field – Human Health Sciences
Mallory Liggett – W Track & Field – Kinesiology
Bryanna Lucas – W Track & Field – Kinesiology
DeAnna Martin – W Track & Field – Management & Marketing
Phoebe McCowan – W Track & Field – Human Health Sciences
Dajour Miles – W Track & Field Social – Work
Mahogany Mobley – W Track & Field – Psychology
Megan Moss – W Track & Field – Kinesiology
Payton Phillips – W Track & Field – Business & Health Promotion
Mollie Roden – W Track & Field – Political Science
Masai Russell – W Track & Field – Sport, Fitness, & Recreation Management
Jenna Schwinghamer – W Track & Field – Kinesiology
Eliza Scoggin – W Track & Field – Marketing
Seven Simms – W Track & Field – Psychology & Sociology
Siobhan Szerencsits – W Track & Field – Human Resource Management
Annika Williams – W Track & Field – Communication
Juliann Williams – W Track & Field – Pre‐Social Work
Maragaret Wilson – W Track & Field – Psychology
