Record 29 Tech student-athletes earn 2020-21 OVC Academic Medal of Honor

Photo by Ohio Valley Conference

The Ohio Valley Conference announced that a record 354 student-athletes have earned the OVC Academic Medal of Honor for the 2020-21 academic year. This year, Tennessee Tech student-athletes claimed a record 29 of the 354 awards.

Tech's 29 recipients of the OVC Academic Medal of Honor broke the previous mark of 24 set back during the 2007-08 academic year. The OVC Academic Medal of Honor is given annually to the student-athletes who achieve the highest grade point average in a Conference-sponsored sport. Every Academic Medal of Honor recipient for the 2020-21 academic year carried a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

Tech's winners included:

BASEBALL – Connor Adams, Gavin Johns, Grant Phillips, Tyler Sylvester

MEN'S BASKETBALL – CJ Gettelfinger, Shandon Goldman, Jamaal Thompson*

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY – Rylee Hertter, Ababu Mohamed

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY – Amanda Laboy*

FOOTBALL – Hunter Barnhart, Hayden Olsen, Jamaal Thompson*

WOMEN'S GOLF – Hannah Bratton

WOMEN'S SOCCER – Selma Askildsen, Natalie Rolen, Chloe Smith, Yao Giada Zhou

SOFTBALL – Raleigh Lewis, Jessie Lowery, Amanda Phy, Brooklin Richardson

MEN'S TENNIS – Andre Rodeia

WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD – Anya Akili, Amanda Laboy*, Tieara Norman, Trenia Stephens

VOLLEYBALL – Katie DiRaimondo, Madeline Furtado, Ali Verzani, McKenna Young

*Indicates winner for multiple sports

Of the 354 award winners, 48 were awarded Academic Medals of Honor for multiple sports (and counted just once in the final recipients list).

The 354 recipients are the most in a single academic year in the history of the award, smashing the previous record of 293 honorees a year ago. It marks the third straight year the league has set a record with number of award winners. Over the past five years, there have been 1,3784 student-athletes earn the OVC Academic Medal of Honor.

The OVC will announce the recipients of the Commissioner's Honor Roll, the Academic Achievement Award, and the Team Academic Achievement Awards later this week.