59 Wildcats on SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A total of 59 University of Kentucky student-athletes earned a place on the 2023-24 Winter Sports Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll, announced Thursday by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.

The 2023-24 Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll is based on grades from the 2023 spring, summer and fall terms. UK had three representatives from men’s basketball, seven from women’s basketball, 12 from gymnastics, seven from rifle, 11 from men’s swimming and diving and 19 from women’s swimming and diving. Women’s basketball’s seven honorees led all SEC schools. Among other qualifications, a student-athlete must have a 3.0 grade-point average for the preceding academic year or a cumulative 3.0 GPA in order to be named to the list.

In addition to the academic success, Kentucky teams also had success in competition in the winter. Men’s basketball earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament, while gymnastics recorded its best-ever finish at the SEC Championships advancing to a NCAA Regional Final. Rifle put together another great season, finishing fourth at NCAAs. Men’s and women’s swimming and diving combined for one SEC medal, three All-SEC selections, four top-24 finishes at the NCAA Championships and 26 new all-time top-10 times/scores.

2023-24 SEC WINTER SPORTS ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL
Brennan Canada – Men’s Basketball – Kinesiology and Health Promotion
Grant Darbyshire – Men’s Basketball – Finance
Ugonna Onyenso – Men’s Basketball – Communication
Amiya Jenkins – Women’s Basketball – Art Studio
Emma King – Women’s Basketball – Finance
Nyah Leveretter – Women’s Basketball – Journalism
Ajae Petty – Women’s Basketball – Public Health
Cassidy Rowe – Women’s Basketball – Kinesiology
Maddie Scherr – Women’s Basketball – Communication
Saniah Tyler – Women’s Basketball – Communication
Bridget Bourque – Gymnastics – Marketing
Bailey Bunn – Gymnastics – Kinesiology
Carissa Clay – Gymnastics – Kinesiology and Health Promotion
Hailey Davis – Gymnastics – Management and Marketing
Samantha Forman – Gymnastics – Marketing
Isabella Magnelli – Gymnastics – Marketing
Arianna Patterson – Gymnastics – Sales
Jillian Procasky – Gymnastics – Marketing
Anna Riegert – Gymnastics – Marketing
Claire Stippich – Gymnastics – Accounting and Mathematical Economics
Makenzie Wilson – Gymnastics – Communication
Raena Worley – Gymnastics – Kinesiology and Communication
Allison Buesseler – Rifle – Elementary Education
Sofia Ceccarello – Rifle – Media Arts and Studies
AJ Hotko – Rifle – Information Communication Technology
Tori Kopelen – Rifle – Public Health
Emmie Sellers – Rifle – Agricultural & Medical Biotechnology
Jaden Thompson – Rifle – Veterinary Science
Martin Voss – Rifle – Sport Leadership
John Broome – Men’s Swim & Dive – Integrated Strategic Communication
Nicholas Caruso – Men’s Swim & Dive – Kinesiology
Samuel Duncan – Men’s Swim & Dive – Finance
Jack Hamilton – Men’s Swim & Dive – Marketing
Logan Ingerick – Men’s Swim & Dive – Finance and Marketing
Drew Johnson – Men’s Swim & Dive – Journalism
Sean Mackey – Men’s Swim & Dive – Management and Marketing
Brady McInerney – Men’s Swim & Dive – Marketing
Ryan Merani – Men’s Swim & Dive – Health Promotion
Zane Rosely – Men’s Swim & Dive – Finance and Management
Levi Sandidge – Men’s Swim & Dive – Computer Science
Kaitlyn Bacik – Women’s Swim & Dive – Computer Science
Caroline Benda – Women’s Swim & Dive – Agricultural & Medical Biotechnology
Victoria Buerger – Women’s Swim & Dive – Animal Sciences
Jodi Cobb – Women’s Swim & Dive – Marketing
Kaelan Daly – Women’s Swim & Dive – Human Health Sciences
Sofie Davis – Women’s Swim & Dive – Journalism
Abigail Devereaux – Women’s Swim & Dive – Journalism and Media Arts & Studies
Megan Drumm – Women’s Swim & Dive – Digital Media and Design
Bridget Engel – Women’s Swim & Dive – Biology
Grace Frericks – Women’s Swim & Dive – Management and Sport Leadership
Lydia Hanlon – Women’s Swim & Dive – Digital Media Design and Communication
Leah Luckett – Women’s Swim & Dive – Psychology and Management
Claire McDaniels – Women’s Swim & Dive – International Studies
Olivia Mendenhall – Women’s Swim & Dive – Finance and Management
Victoria Orcutt – Women’s Swim & Dive – Sport and Exercise Psychology
Anna Rice – Women’s Swim & Dive – Chemistry
Kristyn Sabol – Women’s Swim & Dive – Marketing
Paige Taber – Women’s Swim & Dive – Communication
Maddie Welborn – Women’s Swim & Dive – Human Health Sciences

UK’s players on the SEC Honor Roll continues the trend of strong academic news:

• The 2023 fall semester was the 23rd straight for UK Athletics with a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average as Wildcat scholarship student-athletes combined to achieve a GPA of 3.336. It was the second-highest GPA for a semester for UK Athletics.
• Eighty-four Wildcats were recently named to the 2023 Fall Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll for having a 3.0 grade-point average for the preceding academic year or a cumulative 3.0 GPA.
• Graduation marked yet another milestone of academic success as UK Athletics had a total of 168 graduates during the 2023 calendar year alone. More information on Spring 2024 commencement will be announced next week.
• Recently, UK tied the school record for its NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 92 percent, one point above the national average of 91 percent. All of UK’s teams surpassed the mandatory score for the NCAA Academic Progress Rate. UK’s overall APR rate was higher than the overall national average.
• In August 2023, UK Athletics announced a school-record 12 Academic All-Americans for the 2022-23 school year from the College Sports Communicators organization.
• Nineteen current and former UK student-athletes were honored by the 1A Faculty Athletics Representatives Board with Academic Excellence Awards, it was announced in February.

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.