July 23, 2019
Both the East Central Community College men’s and women’s tennis teams along with five players from each team 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 tennis teams were one of only 10 men’s and 10 women’s community and junior college teams in the nation recognized with the team award.
In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status a player must be a varsity letter winner, have a grade-point average of at least 3.50 for the most recent academic year, and have been enrolled at their present school for at least two semesters.
ECCC women’s tennis players named ITA Scholar-Athletes and their respective high schools were sophomores Bethany Wellerman of Newton County Academy and Gabriela Gomez of Bogota, Colombia, and freshmen Kayla Baucum, Josie Hurst, and Ali Grace Walker, all of Newton County High School.
ECCC men’s tennis players named ITA Scholar-Athletes and their respective high schools were sophomores Will Ladner of Stone County and Jake Wofford of East Webster, and freshmen Dylan Barnett of Newton County, Isaac Santitto of Innisfail, Queensland, Australia, and Kayro Serrano-Arteaga of Forest,
“I am very proud of the achievements of my men and women both on and off the court this past season,” said ECCC head tennis coach Jay Pacelli. “To have 10 all-academic scholar-athletes and two all-academic teams is simply tremendous! I’m proud that their hard work keeps getting recognized!”
The ECCC men’s team finished the 2019 season ranked No. 19 in the Oracle/ITA NJCAA Men’s Top 25, while the ECCC women finished No. 24 in the nation.
