Student-athletes honored as Academic All-Americans

Sophomore student athletes were recognized as Academic All-Americans by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) for the 2014-15 year. Earning the Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence with a GPA of 4.0 were (shown above from op left) Megan Baumgartner (Hesston, Kan.), women’s soccer; Oliver Denlinger (Denver, Pa.), men’s cross country; Yuu Sakaguchi (Kanagawa-ken, Japan), men’s tennis; Rachel Short-Miller (Bellingham, Wash.), women’s soccer and tennis; and Courtney Wengerd (Goshen, Ind.), women’s soccer and tennis. Earning the Award for Superior Academic Achievement with a GPA of 3.8 to 3.99 were Eric Cender (Valparaiso, Ind.), men’s tennis; Laken Richer (New, Paris, Ind.), women’s basketball; Bethany Snow (Park City, Kan.), women’s basketball; Elisabeth Wilder (Hesston, Kan.), women’s soccer; and Nicholas Yoder (Wellman, Iowa), men’s soccer. Earning the Award for Exemplary Academic Achievement with a GPA of 3.6 to 3.79 were Mary Bender (Harrisonburg, Va.), women’s cross country; and Karli Mast (Hubbard, Ore.), women’s tennis.

Men’s Tennis team makes first trip to nationals

With a third-place finish at the Region VI Tournament, the Men’s Tennis team under the leadership of coach Myron Diener ’78, qualified for the NJCAA Division I National Tournament May 11 to 15 in Plano, Texas. The National Tournament berth was a first in the history of Hesston College Tennis. The Larks finished 24th among 27 teams at nationals. Members of the men’s team were Lucas Caywood ’16 (Hutchinson, Kan.), Eric Cender ’15 (Valparaiso, Ind.), Keegan LeFevre ’16 (Hesston), Yuu Sakaguchi ’15 (Kanagawa-ken, Japan), Caleb Schrock-Hurst ’16 (Harrisonburg, Va.), Andry Stutzman ’16 (Harrisonburg, Va.) and Yuki Torii ’16 (Nishio-shi, Japan).

Howell named head baseball coach

Kyle Howell has been named head baseball coach, succeeding Rob Ramseyer, who transitioned to the vice president of Student Development role. Howell was associate head baseball coach for the Larks in 2014-15, serving primarily as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. Prior to arriving at Hesston’s program, Howell was on the coaching staff at College of the Ozarks (Point Lookout, Mo.), El Paso (Texas) Community College and Southwest Baptist University (Bolivar, Mo.). He has also coached in the Washington Nationals Major League Baseball organization and currently serves as an associate scout for the Boston Red Sox. Howell played his collegiate career at Southwest Baptist University. Since 2011, he has coached 18 Division I signees and six MLB draft picks.