GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Golden Eagle senior
Ashley Verplank caps off a great career with one more honor, earning Second Team College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American honors. Verplank joins Cory Ainsworth (men's basketball), Alayna Bowman (Women's Tennis), and Jake Collins (Baseball) as the only Cornerstone honorees so far to earn Academic All-American honors in 2022-23 for their efforts on the field as well as in the classroom. To earn CSC Academic All-American honors, the athlete must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher and be a sophomore or above in academic class standing. They also must make a significant athletic impact in their sport in both the season and their career. Athletes who have done so earn Academic All-District. After earning All-District, CSC members vote on the top 33 NAIA athletes across the country to earn the award.
Verplank has earned three NAIA All-American honors in her pole vault career with two outdoor and one indoor, earning honors in both the 2023 indoor and outdoor competitions. She has tabbed a 3.70 GPA in her career as well as a Computer Science major in the Cornerstone Engineering & Design Innovation program. Verplank goes down as the best female pole vaulter to ever do it at Cornerstone as she holds the program record in both indoor and outdoor competition.
The NAIA Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NAIA national governance structure to assist the CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2022-23 NAIA Academic All-America® program.
Twelve of the 33 members of the Academic All-America® NAIA women's track and field/cross country teams boast a perfect 4.0 GPA in their undergraduate work. The 10 members of the first team have an average GPA of 3.96, with the entire women's team holding a collective average GPA of 3.90.
Five student-athletes join Battershell as repeat selections on the Academic All-America® NAIA women's track and field/cross country team:
Mika Kooistra (Dordt University),
Erin Mapson (Concordia (Neb.) University),
Josie Puelz (Concordia (Neb.) University),
Namiah Simpson (Southeastern University) and
Anmarie Stuit (Dordt University).
For more information regarding the Academic All-America® program, visit
https://academicallamerica.com/.
