When the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) released its 2021 Academic Honor Squads and 2021 Division II Academic Honor Roll for the 2020-2021 academic year Tuesday afternoon, the Lee University women’s lacrosse team found itself recognized on both lists.
The Lady Flames were one of 319 schools across Division I, II, III, and NAIA as IWLCA Academic Honor Squads.
To qualify for this honor, the teams must have posted a 3.2 or higher GPA for the past academic year.
“Academic excellence is a part of our lacrosse team culture and mission. To that end, we dedicated a substantial amount of time and effort with each player to ensure they stayed on track academically. Our team's efforts resulted in a fantastic 3.64 GPA for our spring 2021 semester. We are excited to be recognized as an IWLCA Honor Squad and we will continue to pursue this as a team goal,” said Lee head coach Derrel Martin.
Dariana Blanton (Digital Media: Journalism/Public Relations) and Shayna Ryan (Advertising/Graphic Design) were among the 442 student-athletes from 73 different institutions on the 2021 IWLCA Division II Academic Honor Roll. To be eligible for the honor, student-athletes must be a junior, senior, or graduate student and have earned a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or greater.
“Our 2022 seniors, Dariana and Shayna, dedicate plenty of time to their lacrosse game, but they are also very hard workers in the classroom. We are honored to have them on our team and appreciative of their recognition as scholar-athletes,” concluded Martin.
The Lady Flames completed the 2021 season with a 9-4 record and claimed the program’s first GSC Regular Season Title with a 4-0 conference mark.