Grams is Chiefs' 27th Durrant Award recipient, 73 student-athletes earn ISCC All-Academic
The Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) recently named the Dick Durrant Academic Athlete of the Year Award Winners for 2016-17 at the league’s annual year-ending luncheon at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake. Waubonsee Community College women’s soccer player Emily Grams was one of the co-winners of this prestigious award, given annually to the student-athletes in the ISCC who attain the highest grade point average after completing four semesters of college work. Grams is the 27th Chiefs’ student-athlete to earn this honor since the inception of the award in 1979. In addition, 73 Waubonsee student-athletes achieved ISCC All-Academic status for the 2016-17 school year.
The award is named after Mr. Dick Durrant, who was an outstanding teacher, coach and athletic director at Elgin Community College from 1961 through 1985. Durrant championed the philosophy of academic as well as athletic excellence while at Elgin. Coach Durrant was known for his concern for students, his sense of fair play and his attitude of education before athletics.
Grams, an Elementary Education major from Elburn, finished the school year with a perfect 4.0 grade-point-average while competing for Waubonsee’s women’s soccer team. The sophomore defender was a key cog in the Chiefs’ defense the last two years, earning All-ISCC First Team and All-Region First Team on the field. Grams also served as a team captain this past fall, helping Waubonsee reach the Region IV title match for the eighth time in the last nine years. The Kaneland High School graduate is continuing her collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where she is pursuing her teaching degree.
Waubonsee Community College’s 2016-17 ISCC All-Academic honorees
Baseball
Brett Becker (Mendota)
Kyle Kolb (Roanoke-Benson)
Jared Liebelt (Aurora West)
Dylan Manley (Ottawa Township)
Klay Nafziger (Roanoke-Benson)
Nicholas Saltzman (Somonauk)
Ivan Santos (Miami, FL./McCarthy)
James Tunney (Aurora West)
Aric Applebee (Seneca)
Ryan Becker (Aurora West)
Matt Burke (Murphysboro)
Trevor Hannan (Aurora West)
Chase Hartleben (Parker, CO./Chaparral)
Logan Love (Aurora West)
Joshua Meyers (Marmion Academy)
Dolan Nicholson (Denton, TX./Denton)
Jake Smith (Aurora Central)
Rich Szewczyk (Kaneland)
Trevor Wilcox (Geneva)
Cody Wyeth (Aurora West)
Men’s Basketball
Rodrigue Makindu (Mooseheart)
Jacob Pike (Oswego)
Germaine Roebuck (Champaign-Central)
Men’s Cross Country
Mikos Jiminez (Aurora Christian)
James Walker (Kaneland)
Alexian Saavedra (Plano)
Jason Schlicher (Batavia)
Men’s Golf
Jacob Cook (DeKalb)
Jesse Denton (Kaneland)
Jakob Sanders (Kaneland)
Benjamin Melms (DeKalb)
Men’s Soccer
Calvin Baez (Batavia)
Daniel Madrigal (Oswego East)
Daniel Carbajal (Joliet Central)
Luis Correa-Cabral (West Chicago)
Robert Glass (Geneva)
Gustavo Mancera (St. Charles East)
Laud Williams (Colorado Springs, CO./Wasson)
Women’s Tennis
Alexis Blackmon (Oswego East)
Maddy Deufel (Rosary)
Jasmin Serna (Aurora West)
Women’s Basketball
Libby Love (Plano)
Jacklyn Bouma (Indian Creek)
Lauren Goff (Sycamore)
Alexis VanWhye (Indian Creek)
Women’s Cross Country
Mindy Dolan (S. Jordan, UT./Bingham)
Ripley Vonhoff (Aurora Christian)
Women’s Soccer
Nichole Charielle (Oswego)
Emily Grams (Kaneland)
Taylor Opperman (Kaneland)
Karina Rios (Aurora West)
Ashlyn Turner (Batavia)
Mariah Alaniz (Sycamore)
Kayley Garland (DeKalb)
Nicole Koczka (Kaneland)
Softball
Alucia DeLuca (Bolingbrook)
Ashley Jourdan (Oswego)
Megan Stricker (Geneva)
Shannen Sutherland (Sandwich)
Mary Wackerlin (Mendota)
Megan Arcivar (Metea Valley)
Elizabeth Gagnon (Batavia)
Nicole Krupp (Somonauk)
Women’s Volleyball
Mallory Jones (Aurora West)
Haley Koziol (Yorkville)
Bailey Martenson (Indian Creek)
Vanessa Melendez (Plano)
Payton Orzech (Somonauk)
Anna Senese (Kaneland)
Ashley Deichmueller (Yorkville)
Chelsey Ellen (Yorkville)
Hollie Fedderly (Kaneland)
Brittany Grider (Kaneland)
