Bewley, Cerros make NJCAA First Team All-Academic with 4.0 GPAs

“The three teams that earned academic honors shows that it is possible to stay on top of your work and play,” she said. “I also think it speaks highly of the coaches because they encourage to put school first.”

Twenty-seven Western Nebraska Community College athletes that were a part of the Cougar athletic team during the fall or spring semester in some fashion received NJCAA All-Academic honors this summer.

Three teams also received recognition by the NJCAA as Academic teams of the year. Those included the Cougar volleyball team with a 3.28 GPA a year ago followed by the softball team at 3.27, and the women’s soccer team at 3.02.

Individually, volleyball player Megan Bewley, who will be a sophomore this coming year from Scottsbluff, and men’s soccer player Paul Cerros, who graduated in May, earned the highest honors as First Team All-Academic honorees with perfect 4.0 GPAs.

Cerros, who is majoring in biology, said the honor is something special.

“It is definitely a great accomplishment to be a NJCAA first team recipient. Makes my family and me proud,” the Rifle, Colorado, native said. “Some of the hardest classes I took had to be chemistry and anatomy and physiology. I put in the work by studying and preparing myself.”

Bewley, who is majoring nursing, added that playing sports and keeping up with classroom takes dedication.

“It means a lot to be awarded this honor because it takes a lot of hard work and discipline to stay on top of your grades while doing a sport,” Bewley said. “My science classes are the ones that challenge me the most but they are also the one I enjoy the most. I get through them by making sure I study extra for tests and work through concepts I don’t understand.”

Bewley, who was part of the volleyball team that earned the highest GPA of the three teams that earned team All-Academic honors, said having three teams make that list is exceptional.

Twenty-five other Cougars who were a part of the sports teams at some point earned either Second Team or Third Team All-Academic honors. Second team recipients had a 3.8 to 3.99 GPA while Third team honorees had a 3.6 to 3.79 GPAs.

Those receiving Second Team honors included women’s soccer player Natalya Baird-Watson; volleyball player Charli Blackman; men’s soccer players Hernan Burdiles and Paulo Marques; baseball players Tyler Easter and Bruce Peterson; women’s basketball player Mackenzie Joseph; men’s basketball player Maurice Walker’ and softball players Madi Johnston, Bree Henson, Baylie Krueger, and Av ery Fox.

Those receiv ing third team honors includ ed baseball players Alex Ainsworth, Dylan Harris; volleyball players Ale Meoni, Emma lei Mapu, and Alex Hernandez; men’s soccer players Oziel Camargo, Gabriel Santos, and Rennan Sousa; women’s bas ketball players Shi ho Isono and Jayla Owen; softball play ers DesaRae Woolsey and Victoria Whar ton; and women’s soccer player Hailey Kwiakowski.

Besides NJCAA All-Academic honors, there were 39 Cougar athletes that made Re gion IX All-Academ ic honors. Twenty-four women’s players earned Region IX honors while 15 men’s players earned Region All-Academic honors. To earn Region IX All-Academic consideration, an athlete must have accumulated a minimum of 24 semester hours with a 3.25 GPA in regular college classes excluding remedial/developmental classes.

The volleyball team had the most players on the Region IX All-Academic list with four returning players earning the honor with Megan Bewley, Shae Hardy, Charli Blackman, and Maya Angelova, and other six players that graduated in May on the list in Erica Fava, Anakaren Chavez, Ale Meoni, Emmalei Mapu, Alex Hernandez, and Bree Henson.

The softball team had seven members on the list including two that are returning

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