A record number of Marshalltown Community College student-athletes have earned prestigious national academic honors. 10 members were awarded NJCAA Academic Student-Athlete Awards.
The NJCAA awarded student-athletes national honors based on their overall grade point average over the course of the 2015-16 year. Student-athletes that achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA were awarded the Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence. Student-athletes that maintained a GPA between 3.80 and 3.99 were awarded the Superior Academic Achievement Award while student-athletes with a GPA between 3.60 and 3.79 earned the Exemplary Academic Achievement Award.
Freshman Barbara Araoz (Neuquen, Argentina/Maria Auxiliadota) of the MCC Women's Basketball team and sophomore Ryan Flynn (Hartley, IA/Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn) of the MCC Baseball team were awarded the Pinnacle Award after achieving a perfect 4.0 GPA.
Freshman Courtney Fudge (Pleasant Hill, IA/Des Moines East) of the MCC Softball team, sophomore Florian Caraballo (Cordoba, Spain/I.E.S. Medina-Azahara) of the MCC Men's Soccer team, freshman John Magnuson (Elk Run Heights, IA/Waterloo East) of the baseball team, and Victoria Pothast (Melbourne, IA/West Marshall) of the women's basketball team earned the Superior Academic Achievement Award.
Freshmen Miguel Jareno (Ubeda, Spain/I.E.S. Lopez-Neyra), Pedro Oliveira (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Colegio Estadual), and Rafael Pereira (Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundaria Vergilio Ferreira) of the soccer team and sophomore Paulius Sakinis (Klaipeda, Lithuania/Lourdes Central Catholic) of the MCC Men's Basketball team earned the Exemplary Academic Achievement Award.
To earn recognition from the national office, along with the GPA benchmarks, student-athletes needed to meet the required criteria of 24 semester credit hours for the year.
The previous record for most academic awards in a single season from the NJCAA was six for the 2013-14 year. MCC has had at least two student-athletes earn national academic recognition in each of the last five years.
To see a full list of all-time academic award winners at MCC, visit: MCC All-Time Academic Award Winners
NJCAA Pinnacle Award for Academic Achievement
| Barbara Araoz | Women's Basketball |
| Ryan Flynn | Baseball |
NJCAA Superior Academic Achievement Award
| Florian Caraballo | Men's Soccer |
| Courtney Fudge | Softball |
| John Magnuson | Baseball |
| Victoria Pothast | Women's Basketball |
NJCAA Exemplary Academic Achievement
| Miguel Jareno | Men's Soccer |
| Pedro Oliveira | Men's Soccer |
| Rafael Pereira | Men's Soccer |
| Paulius Sakinis | Men's Basketball |
