August 4, 2020
Both the East Central Community College men’s and women’s tennis teams along with 10 student-athletes have been recognized for academic success by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
The ITA All-Academic Team award is open to any ITA program that has a cumulative team grade-point average of 3.20 or above.
The ECCC women’s tennis team was one of only 17 such programs in the nation to be recognized and one of only three in Mississippi. The men’s tennis team was one of 16 in the country to be honored and one of three in the state.
In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status a player must have a grade-point average of at least 3.50 for the most recent academic year.
All eight members of the ECCC women’s tennis team were named ITA Scholar-Athletes. They include, along with their respective high schools, sophomores Kayla Baucum of Newton County, Josie Hurst of Newton County, and Ali Grace Walker of Newton County, and freshmen Natalia Beltran of Bogota, Colombia, Courtney Gill of Leake Academy, Marla Graham of Newton County Academy, Laila Sisson of Neshoba Central, and Alejandra Vargas of Bogota, Colombia.
ECCC men’s tennis players named ITA Scholar-Athletes and their respective high schools were Dylan Barnett of Newton County and Isaac Santitto of Innisfail, Queensland, Australia.
The ECCC men’s team finished the 2020 season ranked No. 21 in the Oracle/ITA NJCAA Men’s Top 25, while the ECCC women finished No. 20 in the nation.
