Thirty-Six Razorback Student-Athletes Honored

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Thirty-six University of Arkansas student-athletes were selected to the Southeastern Conference Winter Academic Honor Roll, the league office announced Friday morning.

For the second straight year, swimming and diving led the way with 21 student-athletes honored. Nine Arkansas gymnasts earned selection to the list, along with four men’s basketball players and two members of the women’s basketball team. In all, the 36 selections is four more than the winter sports last year.

To be selected, a student-athlete must have a GPA of 3.00 or above for either the previous two semesters or as a cumulative GPA. Student-athletes must have been on the varsity team for at least two seasons and have completed 24 semester or 36 quarter hours of credit toward a degree.

Swimming and diving sent two individual swimmers (Maddie Monroe, Anna Mayfield), one diver (Nicole Gillis) and two relay teams (800 free: Mayfield, Monroe, Nina Drolc and Chelsea Tatlow; 400 free: Mayfield, Monroe, Drolc and Natalie Burnett) to the 2016 NCAA Championships. The 800 free relay team earned an automatic bid when it notched an NCAA “A” cut time of seven minutes, 6.08 seconds at the 2016 SEC Championships. The quartet’s mark ranks second in program history and is Arkansas’ fourth ever “A” cut. With the qualifying time, seniors Mayfield and Drolc joined Missy Allert (1990-93) as the only three swimmers in program history to qualify for four NCAA Championships. The Razorbacks totaled six SEC weekly individual honors throughout the season, the most in single-season program history.

Gymnastics has had at least seven student-athletes on the honor roll during each of the last three years. Fifth-year senior Stephani Canizaro was selected for the fourth time, while seniors Sydnie Dillard, Heather Elswick and Erin Freier earned their third-consecutive honors. Junior Amanda Wellick — who earned an honor roll spot for the second time — advanced to NCAA Nationals as an individual and scored 39.300 in all-around to earn All-America second team honors. Wellick, junior Samantha Nelson and sophomore Paige Zaziski all earned spots on the All-SEC team for their performances in the SEC Championship on March 19 in Little Rock. In addition, sophomores Mia Bargiacchi and Braie Speed grabbed honor roll spots for the first time.

Men’s basketball was well represented as juniors Moses Kingsley and Manuale Watkins landed on the honor roll for the second straight year, while senior Anthlon Bell and sophomore Trey Thompson made their debut on the list. After a four-year career and joining the 1,000-point club, Bell is scheduled to graduate in May with a degree in recreation and sport management. Despite being picked 11th in the preseason poll, the Razorbacks finished eighth in the league after winning four of their final five regular season games. Arkansas led the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage, turnover margin and assist/turnover ratio, while ranking second in assists per game.

Senior Melissa Wolff and junior Kelsey Brooks continue to lead the Razorback women’s basketball team in the classroom. Wolff earned her fourth SEC Honor Roll selection and Brooks is making her third appearance on the list. Wolff was the only senior on this year’s team and graduates in May with her degree in exercise science. She is attending graduate school in the fall and plans to pursue a career in physical therapy. The duo paced the Razorbacks to a seven-win SEC season and the second round of the SEC Tournament. Arkansas defeated three ranked teams in the first four games of the conference schedule and faced one of the toughest starts in league play in the country last year.

Arkansas Student-Athletes on 2016 SEC Winter Honor Roll

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