CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Division 2 Athletics Directors Association (D2 ADA) announced the 2021-22 recipients of the D2 ADA Academic Achievement Awards with a record 74 Hawai'i Hilo student-athletes earning recognition.
In its 15th year, the program recognizes Division II student-athletes who have accomplished a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher (on a 4.0 scale), completed at least two years of college-level work and have been an active member of an intercollegiate team during the last academic year.
In total, there were a record-breaking 16,639 student-athletes from 169 institutions recognized for the 2021-22 Academic Achievement Awards — the most student-athletes recognized since the inception of the award's program.
"Our student-athletes continue to make us proud with their success in the classroom," Hawai'i Hilo director of athletics Patrick Guillen said. "The demands that they face in regards to travel while representing UH Hilo, the state of Hawai'i and our Big Island community is greater than any program in the country. Despite these demands they continue to excel in their academics and on the field. Well done!"
This year's record-number of student-athlete recipients surpassed last year's then-record-setting number of 62.
"Congratulations to all of the student-athlete recipients of the distinguished D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award," said Kim Pate, vice president for athletics at Lenoir-Rhyne University and current D2 ADA President. "It's been so impressive to see the number of student-athlete's recognized for their stellar performance in the classroom grow to record numbers year to year since the inception of this award. This a reflection our member institution's commitment to ensuring special recognition of the academic success of so many well-deserving student-athletes."
For the fourth consecutive year, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) had the largest number of student-athlete honorees with 1,709 total, closely followed by the Sunshine State Conference with 1,306 and Northeast 10 Conference (NE10) with 1,285. In addition, we would also like to recognize two additional conferences who finished in the top five; the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) with 1,199 and the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) with 1,171, respectively.
Independently, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference's (GMAC) University of Findlay led the way with 273 honorees, followed closely by another GMAC representative Walsh University with 247 award winners. Mercyhurst University of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) finished third with 241 recipients and Queens University of Charlotte in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) came in fourth overall with 234. Rounding out the top-five was the Sunshine State Conference's Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with 215 nominees.
The Vulcans ranked No. 6 out of the 10 schools of the Pacific West Conference. As a whole, the PacWest finished No. 6 amongst the other Division II conferences.
Since the inception of the award's program in 2007-08, there has been a total of 127,854 student-athlete nominees recognized for their academic achievements at the Division II level.
BASEBALL
» Ryan Cho (San Diego, Calif.) - Junior
» Jackson Fuller (Lewiston, Idaho) - Senior
» Alex Hobgood (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - Junior
» Barron Holtz (Plainview, Minn.) - Senior
» Jarod Kaneshiro (Honolulu, Hawai'i) - Senior
» Shane Ota (Honolulu, Hawai'i) - Sophomore
» Rysen Ross (Hilo, Hawai'i) - Junior
» Aaron Wehrman (Honolulu, Hawai'i) - Junior
» James Yamasaki (Honolulu, Hawai'i) - Junior
» Casey Yamauchi (Hilo, Hawai'i) - Senior
MEN'S BASKETBALL
» Kia`i Apele (Hilo, Hawai'i) - Sophomore
» Anthony Haskett (Walnut Creek, Calif.) - Senior
» Steven Hubbell (Burbank, Calif.) - Senior
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
» Erica Ingram (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) - Sophomore
» Mandi Kawaha (Hilo, Hawai'i) - Senior
» Bree Olson (Tucson, Ariz.) - Senior
» Sara Shimizu (Sacramento, Calif.) - Senior
» Mikayla Tablit (Kealakekua, Hawai'i) - Senior
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
» Lily Gavagan (Pukalani, Hawai'i) - Senior
» Olivia Jarvis (Oceanside, Calif.) - Senior
» Aurea Streadbeck (Ewa Beach, Hawai'i) - Sophomore
MEN'S GOLF
» Nicholas Gomez (Fountain Valley, Calif.) - Junior
» Ethan Hironaga (Kea'au, Hawai'i) - Sophomore
» Noah Lau (Honolulu, Hawai'i) - Senior
WOMEN'S GOLF
» Tori Hironaga (Hilo, Hawai'i) - Junior
» Kaelyn Uchida (Hilo, Hawai'i) - Senior
MEN'S SOCCER
» Michael Harre (St. Louis, Mo.) - Senior (post-graduate)
» Caesar Hjerten (Ulricehamn, Sweden) - Senior
» Kealaula Keliikoa (Wailuku, Hawai'i) - Senior
» Luca Lippert (Langen, Germany) - Senior (post-graduate)
» David Mayser (Munich, Germany) - Sophomore
» Wataru Muto (Chiba, Japan) - Senior
» Brady O'Neill (Murrieta, Calif.) - Junior
» Marcus Plataniotis (Sydney, Australia) - Senior
» Teddy Rubenstein (Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i) - Junior
» Kaleihalia Tolentino-Perry (Kea'au, Hawai'i) - Senior
» Tom Vorkastner (Tangstedt, Germany) - Sophomore
WOMEN'S SOCCER
» Breeann Andrade (Honolulu, Hawai'i) - Junior
» Saydee Bacdad (Hilo, Hawai'i) - Junior
» Bailee Brennan (Carlsbad, Calif.) - Senior
» Piper Collado (Waipahu, Hawai'i) - Senior
» Sophia Dent (San Diego, Calif.) - Junior
» Megan Donovan (Encinitas, Calif.) - Sophomore
» Filippa Graneld (Stockholm, Sweden) - Sophomore
» Taylor Hornburg (Exeter, Calif.) - Senior
» Kayla Kunihisa (Waipahu, Hawai'i) - Senior
» Jodi Lillie (Mililani, Hawai'i) - Senior
» Maisie Paulson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) - Senior
» Camille Strazzo (Sutter Creek, Calif.) - Senior
» Daelenn Tokunaga (Waipahu, Hawai'i) - Senior
» Silje Vigeland (Carlsbad, Calif.) - Sophomore
» Brende Yoshizumi (Kapolei, Hawai'i) - Senior
SOFTBALL
» Sara Bhatt (Murrieta, Calif.) - Sophomore
» Brandee Chinen (Hilo, Hawai'i) - Senior
» Mari Kimoto (Honolulu, Hawai'i) - Sophomore
» Angel Prewitt (Port Orchard, Wash.) - Senior
» Maya Lee Saneishi (Wahiawa, Hawai'i) - Senior
» Nikki Zielinski (Sedona, Ariz.) - Senior
MEN'S TENNIS
» Luca Checchia (Valencia, Spain) - Senior
» Alessio Demichelis (Casale Monferrato, Italy) - Sophomore
» Joshua Liu (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - Senior
WOMEN'S TENNIS
» Julia Barden (Singapore) - Sophomore
» Sandra Dafincescu (Ramnicu Valcea, Romania) - Senior
» Casydee De Mattos (Hilo, Hawai'i) - Sophomore
» Hannah Highsmith (Folsom, Calif.) - Senior
» Hokulani Iseri (Kolua, Hawai'i) - Junior
» Lino Yoshikawa (Kihei, Hawai'i) - Senior
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
» Bria Beale (Eastvale, Calif.) - Senior (Graduate)
» Cara Bolte (Honolulu, Hawai'i) - Junior
» Chloe Culanding (Chesapeake, Va.) - Sophomore
» Sydney Gott (Quincy, Calif.) - Junior
» Tani Hoke (Kailua, Hawai'i) - Sophomore
» Ashton Jessee (Anchorage, Alaska) - Senior
» Kendall Kott (Shingle Springs, Calif.) - Junior
