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A number of local athletes have already received numerous postseason honors for their performance on the field, court and track. Now Sports360AZ.com, a local digital media outlet with high-quality high school sports content, has released its 2016 All-Academic Baseball, Softball and Track & Field Teams, which represent “the best the state has to offer both on the field as well as in the classroom.”
Brad Cesmat, the founder and CEO of Sports 360AZ.com, told Copper Area News that former honored players have included the recognition on their college applications, adding that off-field performance is “more important than what a (player) can do on the field.”
“Our stance is, academics should play a role for every kid,” said Cesmat, who is also a faculty member of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. “If you notice, there are players on the team that don’t start or play that much, but they are part of a TEAM. So why not honor them too?”
Players were nominated by coaches and members of the Arizona High School Football community, according to the site. Nominees were required to be varsity level student-athletes with at least a 3.0 unweighted or a 3.5 weighted grade-point average.
Ray Baseball
2016 All-Academic Honorable Mention: Anthony Acuna (3.50 GPA), Anthony Lopez (3.90 GPA), Brett Fackiner (3.71 GPA), Fabian Valenzuela (3.719 GPA), Jaden Pace (4.0 GPA), Jordan Pace (3.721 GPA), and Noah Warren (3.94 GPA).
Ray Track & Field
2016 All-Academic Honorable Mention: August Patterson (4.0 GPA), Kenneth Palmer (4.0 GPA), and Paul Wormwood (4.0 GPA).
San Manuel Softball
2016 All-Academic Honorable Mention: Nikki Baldenegro (3.5 GPA).
Andrew Luberda began writing for Copper Area News Publishers (CANP) in February 2013 after working 15 years in Healthcare Financial Management. Andy covers sports for 11 high schools. His stories are published in Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner and Superior Sun, in addition to the San Tan Valley Daily PRSS and CopperArea websites. Additionally, he has written human interest stories and business profiles. In May 2012, he earned an AAS in Sports Management at Central Arizona College before graduating with a BS in Communication from Arizona State University in 2014. He and his wife, Kelli, have three sons – AJ, Kyle, and Kade.
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