Kutztown

Local residents

named award winners

Kutztown University athletics recorded a new department high as 133 student-athletes earned Division 2 Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement Award status.

The 133 Golden Bears eclipses the 2021-22 previous record of 128.

Kutztown’s 2023-24 D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award recipients are:

Breinigsville: Ava Bendetti, Logan Iacobelli;

Fogelsville: Jenna Piatkiewicz;

Kutztown: Gonzalo Barcelo, Erika Moriarty;

New Tripoli: Greenleigh McGehee;

Orefield: AWilliam Meeker; and

Schnecksville: Julianna Elsesser.

For a student-athlete to qualify for the award, they must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale, have completed a minimum of two years (four semesters) of college level work at a two-year and/or four-year institution and also been an active member of an intercollegiate team during the last academic year.

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tallied 1,919 student-athletes on the list.

The Academic Achievement Awards, in its 17th year, is a program that recognizes the academic accomplishments of student-athletes at the Division II level.

In total, there was a record-breaking 19,774 student-athletes from 192 institutions recognized for the 2023-24 Academic Achievement Awards, which is the highest total of student-athletes recognized since the beginning of the awards program.