Shenandoah Athletics: Six named Academic All-State

Six Shenandoah University student-athletes have been recognized for academic achievement in selections by the Virginia State Sports Information Directors Association.

Alyson Bittinger, Jack Massie, Jason Morgan, Jordan Sondrol, Grant Thompson and Emily Yergin have all earned VaSID Academic All-State accolades.

For Sondrol and Yergin, both rising seniors, it is a repeat honor.

Sondrol, a 3.79 student as an education major, led her women’s basketball team to an ODAC championship this past season with averages of 10.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

An All-ODAC honoree in 2018, Sondrol was named to the 2019 ODAC All-Tournament team.

Yergin, who boasts a 3.71 GPA as a sport management major, is a three-time first team All-ODAC honoree for women’s soccer and enters her senior year needing three goals, nine assists and 15 points to become the Hornets all-time leader in each of those categories. Last season, she had 16 goals and 11 assists for 43 points.

Bittinger, a member of the women’s lacrosse team, has a 3.30 GPA as a nursing major. A two-time All-ODAC honoree and the 2018 ODAC Rookie of the Year for women’s lacrosse, she finished second in the league this season with 61 goals.

Massie plays a dual role for the football team, serving as a linebacker and a kicker. A 3.96 student as an environmental studies major, Massie was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District V team this past fall. On the gridiron, he had five tackles while posting seven touchbacks as the Hornets kickoff specialist.

Morgan, who has a perfect 4.0 GPA as a biology major, earned his first All-ODAC honor this season by grabbing a third team pick on defense for the Hornets men’s lacrosse program. He had 36 groundballs and 13 caused turnovers while starting 12 of the squad’s 16 games.

Thompson, a member of the ODAC and regional champion baseball program, rounds out the SU representatives to the Academic All-State team. A business administration major with a 3.65 GPA, Thompson earned All-Tournament honors at both the ODAC Tournament and Kean Regional after hitting two home runs and driving in 12 runs in those 11 games. He hit .289 for the year with 50 hits in 173 at-bats over 48 games.

The honorees were selected by the sports information directors from across the commonwealth from student-athletes with at least a 3.25 average GPA and sophomore academic status.