Tiger baseball, softball players earn scholar-athlete honors
MITCHELL, S.D. – Two members of the Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team and one athlete from the Tiger softball team have been named Daktronics/NAIA Scholar-Athletes, it was announced Thursday afternoon by the NAIA.
MITCHELL, S.D. – Two members of the Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team and one athlete from the Tiger softball team have been named Daktronics/NAIA Scholar-Athletes, it was announced Thursday afternoon by the NAIA.
Anthony Pakutka and Zac Turbes earned the honor for the DWU baseball squad and Nicole Haley was honored from the Tiger softball team. Turbes and Haley are both seniors, and Pakutka was a junior this past season.
Pakutka and Turbes were two of the 259 baseball players from around the NAIA who earned academic honors. Pakutka, a Copperas Cove, Texas, native, had a 3.6 GPA and is a business administration major. Turbes is from Santa Maria, Calif., and is a sport, exercise and wellness major with a 3.75 GPA. This is the first scholar-athlete honor for both athletes. The pair helped the Tigers to a 24-32 overall record and an appearance in the Great Plains Athletic Conference postseason tournament.
This is the second scholar-athlete honor for Haley, a Chino Hills, Calif., native. She graduated in May with a 3.72 GPA and an athletic training major. Haley helped Dakota Wesleyan to a 17-30 overall record and its first appearance in the GPAC postseason tournament since the 2007 season.
In order to qualify for scholar-athlete honors, athletes must have a minimum GPA of 3.5 and have achieved a junior academic status.