July 24, 2018
Both the East Central Community College men’s and women’s tennis teams along with four players from each team have been recognized for academic success by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
The ITA announced the 2018 All-Academic Teams and Scholar-Athletes on July 24. In all, 735 teams and 4,328 student-athletes across all five divisions of college tennis were honored.
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.
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 sophomore Gabriela Gomez of Bogota, Colombia; sophomore Julia Johnston of Florence; freshman Sara Mazzella of Newton County Academy; and freshman Bethany Wellerman of Newton County Academy.
ECCC men’s tennis players named ITA Scholar-Athletes and their respective high schools were freshman Landon Gibson of Clarkdale; freshman Wilton Ladner of Stone County; sophomore Tom Langelaar of Veldhoven, Netherlands; and sophomore Emontie Lewis of Terry.
“I’m proud of the efforts on our men’s and women’s tennis teams on and off the court,” said ECCC Tennis Coach Jay Pacelli. “The excellence these players show in the classroom on a consistent basis means as much if not more than any tennis victory. Congratulations particularly to all of our ITA scholar athletes.”
