On February 12th, The National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) named 21 student-athletes from the Ithaca College field hockey program to the 2024 NFHCA Division III National Academic Squad. This year's list recognizes over 1880 outstanding undergraduate student-athletes across 150 institutions in Division III for their outstanding academic achievements.
 
The NFHCA National Academic Squad program, sponsored by OPA Winning Teams, celebrates undergraduate collegiate student-athletes who have achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or higher throughout the fall semester of the current academic year. These recipients have also been nominated by their dedicated NFHCA member coaches.
 
Ithaca's 21 student-athletes receiving this honor include Reese Abrahamson, Eliza Ballaro, Meara Bury, Ella Carwile, Maeve Clark, Natalie Descalso,  Caroline Folan, Ellie Gipe, Ainsley Grant, Abby Hennessy, Bella McCollister, Taylor McKinnon, Audrey McMahon, Catherine Papa, Brenna Schoenfeld, Breeah Shaw, Brooke Snider, Brady Sullivan, Delaney Szwast, Mia Woodard, and  Payton Yahner.
 
Additionally, 310 honorees earned this distinction for the fourth consecutive year. Two Ithaca seniors, Bury and Papa were named four-time honorees for their consistent commitment to academics throughout their undergraduate career. Their accomplishment is recognized in the award listing.
 
This year Mount Holyoke College landed the highest number of Academic Squad selections with an impressive total of 25 student-athletes. Haverford College and Middlebury College followed closely behind with 24 honorees each.
 
On February 14th, the NFHCA announced the Division III 2024 Scholars of Distinction, a prestigious honor awarded to student-athletes who maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.9 or higher during the fall semester. A total of 540 student-athletes from more than 135 institutions earned this distinction.
 
Ithaca landed eight student-athletes on the list: Carwile, Folan, Gipe, Grantm Hennessy, Schoenfeld, Szwast, and Yahner. Middlebury College and Shenandoah University led all of Division III with 12 honorees each.
 
100 honorees impressively earned this distinction for the fourth consecutive year.
 
The accolades continued for Ithaca College, as on February 18th, the field hockey program was awarded the National Academic Team Award for achieving an exceptional team GPA of 3.62 during the fall semester.
 
A total of 69 Division III teams were honored with this award, which is granted to programs that achieve a team GPA of 3.5 or higher. Shenandoah University secured the highest team GPA in Division III with a 3.83, followed by Haverford College (3.81) and Clark University (3.80).
 
The 2024 honorees for the National Academic Squad, Scholars of Distinction, and National Academic Team lists are alphabetically ordered first by school, then by name. All lists are also searchable and filterable.