GALESBURG — Forty-four Carl Sandburg College student-athletes have earned Academic All-Arrowhead Conference honors for their performances in the classroom during the 2017-18 academic year.
Student-athletes must have earned at least a 3.0 grade point average and passed a minimum of 12 credit hours in each semester to be considered for Academic All-Arrowhead status.
All 10 Chargers teams had at least one player earn the distinction. Softball had the most representatives of any Sandburg squad, with 13 of its 17 players achieving the honor. The Chargers volleyball team was close behind, with 12 of the 16 members from its NJCAA Division II tournament team qualifying for Academic All-Arrowhead status.
Seven Chargers who participated in multiple sports were named to the team, and 15 Chargers sophomores earned academic all-conference honors each of the past two years.
Additionally, three-sport sophomore Sam Mayberry (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) and men’s basketball sophomore Matt Wendling (Athens, Ill./Athens) were Sandburg’s nominees for the Bob Bopp Award given to the conference’s outstanding male and female student-athletes.
Mayberry played volleyball, basketball and softball in her last year as a Charger. She was a starter for the Region IV tournament champion volleyball team, a key reserve in women’s basketball and played in 19 games this spring for softball.
Wendling, who will play next season at Illinois-Springfield, was the leading scorer and rebounder for the Chargers, helping them to their first conference championship since 1990. The 6-foot-5 forward finished with 1,012 points in two seasons at Sandburg.
The following Chargers earned academic All-Arrowhead Conference honors (* denotes Academic All-Arrowhead Conference last two years):
BASEBALL
Braedon Blackford (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame)
Jordan Chandler (Erie, Ill./Erie)*
Nolan Struhs (Avon, Ill./Abingdon-Avon)
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Tyler Dugan (Abingdon, Ill./Abingdon-Avon)
Ben Stipp (Abingdon, Ill./Abingdon-Avon)
Matt Wendling (Athens, Ill./Athens)
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
Sebastian Arteaga (Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg)*
Brennan Foley (Galva, Ill./Galva)
MEN’S GOLF
Michael Curry (Petersburg, Ill./PORTA)
Brady Grafton (Orion, Ill./Orion)
Bryce Grafton (Orion, Ill./Orion)
Ryan Hansen (Neponset, Ill./Kewanee)*
MEN’S SOCCER
Jonathan Bustos (Irapuato, Mexico/Streator)*
Josh Campbell (Glasgow, Scotland/Eastbank Academy)*
Kentrell Carr (Hot Springs, Ark./Hot Springs)
Joel Espinoza (Alta, Iowa/Alta-Aurelia)
Daniel Freedman (Newcastle, England/Monkseaton)*
Sam Walton (Newcastle, England/Monkseaton)
SOFTBALL
Madison Benge (Stronghurst, Ill./West Central)
Jada Fletcher (Oquawka, Ill./West Central)
Sarah Lindsay (Athens, Ill./Athens)
Lizzie Malcolm (Milan, Ill./Alleman)
Abigail Stranger (Abingdon, Ill./Abingdon-Avon)
Whitney Wynkoop (Fulton, Ill./Fulton)
VOLLEYBALL
Emma Derry (Augusta, Ill./Southeastern)*
Sam Head (Fisher, Ill./Fisher)*
Camerin Huizenga (Fulton, Ill./Fulton)
Aleksa Ladd (Toluca, Ill./Fieldcrest)*
Josalyn Owens (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln)
Hannah Thompson (Blandinsville, Ill./West Prairie)
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Juliette Camara (London Mills, Ill./Spoon River Valley)*
Morgan Kirby (Fairmount, Ill./Salt Fork)*
Abby Masterson (Bradford, Ill./Stark County)*
Willow Porter (Wyoming, Ill./Stark County)
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
Ashlyn Boyer (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln)
WOMEN’S GOLF
Katelyn Davis (Henderson, Ill./Galesburg)
Hayley Guilinger (Thomson, Ill./West Carroll)
MULTIPLE SPORTS
Katie Droste (Biggsville, Ill./West Central), women’s basketball and softball
Grace Ferguson (Monmouth, Ill./Monmouth-Roseville), volleyball and softball*
Sam Mayberry (Pekin, Ill./Pekin), volleyball, women’s basketball and softball
Madison Stewart (Dahinda, Ill./Williamsfield), volleyball and softball
Kylie Stineman (New Boston, Ill./Mercer County), volleyball and softball
Lexi Strange (Emden, Ill./Hartsburg-Emden), volleyball and softball*
Helena Wyant (Toulon, Ill./Stark County), volleyball and softball*
