WINTER HAVEN – Polk State's diamond sports' seasons have been over for more than two months, but the programs each earned one last honor for the 2024-25 Academic Year on Thursday.

Polk State Baseball and Polk State Softball were each recognized with NJCAA Academic Team of the Year honors. The programs were required to have cumulative team grade-point averages (GPAs) of 3.0 or greater to achieve the distinction.

Polk State Baseball earned the recognition with a GPA of 3.10. Catcher Simon Scharff, infielders Kustarr Webb and Hayden Testerman, designated hitter Liam O'Neil and pitcher Vincent Antuna were recognized as NJCAA All-Academic Team selections. Pitchers Gavin Dicks and Wade Johnson, outfielder Jordan Thomas and infielder Andy Schroeder were previously named FCSAA All-Academic selections.

"You always to be successful on the field, but it's great to see your guys be successful in the classroom as well," Head Baseball Coach Al Corbeil said. "When you're a student-athlete in our program, you have to buy into the student part as much as being an athlete."

Polk State Softball finished its best season on the diamond in 10 years with a 3.29 team GPA in the classroom. The Eagles have now earned that distinction in each of Head Coach Kevin Lewis' two seasons.

Outfielder Veronica Fernandez, utilities Rylee Hartnell and Jamie Reinhardt and infielder Jamie Glassford were recognized as NJCAA All-Academic Team selections. Additionally, infielders Savanah Ford, Natalie Hiles, Nayeli Hernandez and Joyleen Vidal, outfielder Karyna Lewis and pitcher Sarah Sosa were named FCSAA All-Academic performers last month.

"When you commit to Polk State, you're not committing to just perform on the field; you're committing to performing in the classroom," Lewis said. "This honor shows that our kids are honoring their commitment academically."

The two Polk State programs are among more than 90 FCSAA programs to earn NJCAA Academic Team of the Year status. In addition to the team recognitions, Polk State had 39 student-athletes earn FCSAA All-Academic honors and 21 earn NJCAA All-Academic recognition.