BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Nine University of West Alabama student-athletes were selected to the 2017 Gulf South Conference FireSeeds Spring All-Academic Teams, according to announcement by the league on Tuesday. Fifty-eight were named to the Spring Academic Honor Roll.
 
Men's golf led UWA in All-Academic selections with Andrew Cronwright, Brannon O'Pry and Harris Stevens taking home accolades. First time selections Cronwright and O'Pry have a 3.80 GPA in Exercise Science and a 3.70 in Marine Biology, respectively. Stevens earned his third All-Academic honor with a 3.85 in Pre-Med studies.
 
Women's golf followed with two selections in Savannah Payne and Jessica Smyth. Payne has a 3.42 GPA in Pre-Med studies and adds the honor to a 2017 All-GSC First team nod. Smyth's 3.80 in History was good for the senior's third All-Academic selection.
 
Amina Mukhametshina earned the honor for women's tennis with a 3.36 GPA in Business Administration, adding to her GSC Player of the Year and ITA All-American honors. Nicolai Jochamowitz of the men's tennis team took home the honor with a 3.84 in Business Management.
 
Brady Badon of the baseball team was selected to the All-Academic Team with a 3.76 GPA in Pre-Med studies, while Ashlend Rodriguez of the softball team rounded out West Alabama selections with a 3.79 in Psychology.
 
Academic All-GSC Teams are selected by the Gulf South Conference Sports Information Directors (SIDs) and Faculty Athletic Representatives (FARs) in a joint vote. Nominees must have an overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.20 or better on a 4.00 scale for their entire academic career and may not be freshmen or first-semester or quarter transfers.
 
The student-athlete must be a significant contributor to the squad. Other factors include leadership, community service and extra-curricular activities. SIDs and FARs are not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes. The number of student- athletes selected in each sport is determined by the number of positions normally involved in the playing of that sport. Ties are not broken.
 
For the GSC Academic Honor Roll, baseball and softball led the way with 12 student athletes each earning the honor. Men's track and field placed eight on the honor roll, while women's track and field placed seven.
 
Women's golf followed with six selections, and men's golf had five. Both men's and women's tennis placed four athletes on the honor roll a piece.
 
Qualification for the GSC Honor Roll is automatic based on at least a 3.00 grade-point average and does not require a voting process. Overall, there were 794 student-athletes who earned this distinction, the most in conference history for the spring season.
 
The complete 2017 GSC FireSeeds All-Academic Teams can be found HERE.
The complete 2017 GSC FireSeeds Spring Honor Roll can be found HERE.