Flying in the face of presumptions that today’s college student-athletes are less the former and more the latter, 166 Loyola Marymount University student-athletes earned places on the West Coast Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll for the 2018-19 academic year.

Altogether, a record 1,480 WCC student-athletes made the Commissioner's Honor Roll for possessing at least a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale. It is the 18th year in which the conference of nine (primarily Catholic) institutions has recognized student-athletes who balance athletic success with academic excellence.

The categories of honors include Gold (3.75 to 4.00 GPA), Silver (3.50 to 3.74) and Bronze (3.00 to 3.49). 

Topping LMU’s 29 Gold Honor Roll members was graduate student Megan Nash, a beach volleyball player pursuing a Master’s in Educational Studies, who posted a 4.00 GPA. A graduate of Holy Trinity High School in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, Nash transferred to LMU last year from Central Arkansas, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s in Exercise Science and was twice Southland Conference Student-Athlete of the year.

Other leading LMU student-athletes, as ranked by their GPAs, were sophomore Ethan Prost (men’s tennis), 3.98 in Finance; graduate student Sylvia Hernandez (beach volleyball), 3.97 in Educational Studies; freshman Ethan Frisone (men’s cross country and track), 3.96 in Finance; freshman Dylan Shockey (men’s soccer), 3.96 in Health and Human Sciences; freshman Callie Mejia (women’s rowing), 3.96 in Film and Television Production; and junior Cartier Juan (men’s tennis), 3.95 in Finance.

To be considered for the Commissioner's Honor Roll, student-athletes must have earned a varsity letter in a sport which the conference determined a champion in the recently completed academic year. Each individual also must successfully complete an average of at least 12 graded credit hours (non pass-fail hours) per term.

Mike Nelson is the former editor of The Tidings (predecessor of Angelus News).

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