By Carolina Garcia, Staff Writer

Nineteen Armstrong Pirates have earned the Division 2 Athletics Directors Association (D2ADA) Academic Achievement Awards. The D2ADA is the first organization of its kind to provide educational opportunities as well as enrichment of adequate standards and ethics.

In order to be honored for an Academic Achievement Award, student-athletes must have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, have attended a minimum of two years of college level work, have been an active member of an intercollegiate team during his/her last academic year, and the student’s athletics director must be a current dues paying member of the D2ADA.

A total of 7,074 student-athletes and 158 institutions are being recognized for the 2013-2014 Academic Achievement Award. Armstrong honorees include Armstrong baseball players Ryan Esenwein, Clayton Miller and Cody Sherlin; softball player Peyton Roth; volleyball players Morgan Hill, Kristen Holmes, Taylor Permenter and Stephanie Sfara; women’s basketball players Hanna Bognar, Tyler Carlson and Morgan Mitchell; women’s golfer Jenna Birch; women’s soccer players Maggie Carson, Candace Cosby, Andye Dawson, Rachel Hatch, Stephanie James and Jordan Otto.

Womens basketball player Tyler Carlson Carlson said, “Any academic award I receive means the world to me because it represents all the hard work I have put into being a student.”

This award represents the overall dedication to not only succeed in collegiate sports, but exceed in the classroom as well that the athletic department here at Armstrong works so hard to emphasize.

Armstrong athletics director Lisa Sweany is extremely pleased with the excellence of the Pirates on the field but even more so in the classroom.

Sweany said, “Having 19 student-athletes recognized by the D2ADA for Academic Achievement is a tremendous accomplishment not only for the individuals receiving the recognition but for their respective teams and Pirate Athletics in general.”