Illinois Valley Times

The classroom called just as strongly as the athletic arena for a record number of Illinois Valley Community College (IVCC) athletes this year, Athletic Director Cory Tomasson told the Illinois Valley Times recently.

Twenty-seven IVCC students earned Academic All-American honors from the National Junior College Athletic Association.

“We’re really proud and honored to have that many student athletes at both a national and conference level,” Tomasson said. “We’ve never had this many student athletes perform or be recognized at the national level. We’re really proud of them for the work that they did along with the work of our coaches, athletic staff and faculty at the college that helped with things like counseling, peer tutoring and other resources that we utilized.”

Tomasson said the skills of the incoming freshmen class were at least part of the reason for the jump from 11 students who earned the honors last year.

“We had a really good group of freshman recruits coming in,” he said. “One thing we’ve focused on are recruiting student athletes that will be successful playing their respective sport but also being productive in the classroom. Our overall GPA for the entire athletic department was pretty high.”

The school requires student athletes to attend class every day. 

“We follow a student athlete progress report where we do progressive checks with the athlete and instructors," Tomasson said. "We also have an attendance tracker where the student athlete has to get a signature from their instructor every day. Attending class is one of the detrimental items for a student athlete when it comes to coursework. If they don’t attend, they’re not going to perform as well. So we [require] them to go to class to be a part of the athletic team.”

Tomasson said he hopes to continue to build on the school's success. 

“[We’re going to] continue with the same process that we’re doing," he said. "I think that translates over to success on the field or on the court. Our coaches are all, for the most part, part-time employees here, with the exception of two of us. So getting them knowledgeable about the programs we have to offer and how to get that help from their student athletes.”

As for this year's honorees, Tomasson said he can’t congratulate them enough. 

“I’m really proud of the athletes," he said. "When it comes down to it, they have to perform. We can provide them with the support, but it takes their effort and dedication to academics. Many of them made the president’s list at the college for high honors. All of these individuals made it work over the last year. I couldn’t be more proud, and I hope the success continues for them.”