72 Wildcats Earn a Place on the SEC Winter Sports Academic Honor Roll

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 27, 2021) — A total of 72 University of Kentucky student-athletes earned a place on the 2021 Winter Sports Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll, announced last week by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. UK tied for the third-highest number of honorees in the league. 

The 2021 Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll is based on grades from the 2020 Spring, Summer and Fall terms. UK’s gymnastics team had 17 representatives, most in the league in that sport. UK’s 23 entries in women’s swimming and diving is third-highest in that sport. In addition, there are four representatives from men’s basketball, seven from women’s basketball, nine from rifle and 12 from men’s swimming and diving. Among other qualifications, a student-athlete must have a 3.0 grade-point average for the preceding academic year or a cumulative 3.0 GPA in order to be named to the list. 

In addition to the academic success, Kentucky also had a pair of championship teams among the winter sports. The rifle squad won its third NCAA championship and also the Great American Rifle Conference regular-season title for the eighth time. Women’s swimming and diving won its first SEC championship in school history. 

In addition to tying for the third-highest total on the SEC Winter Sports Honor Roll, UK had the second-best total for the 2020 Fall Sports Honor Roll, as 100 Wildcats achieved that distinction. 

2021 SEC WINTER SPORTS HONOR ROLL

Kentucky – Sport – Major

Keion Brooks Jr. - Men's Basketball - Communication

Brennan Canada - Men's Basketball - Communication

Alexander Payne - Men's Basketball - Communication

Riley Welch - Men's Basketball - Liberal Studies

Dre’una Edwards - Women's Basketball - Social Work

Blair Green - Women's Basketball - Kinesiology

Emma King - Women's Basketball - Human Health Sciences

KeKe McKinney - Women's Basketball - Social Work

Chasity Patterson - Women's Basketball - Media Arts and Studies

Kameron Roach - Women's Basketball - Kinesiology and Health Promotion

Tatyana Wyatt - Women's Basketball - Psychology

Raina Albores - Gymnastics - Kinesiology

Josie Angeny - Gymnastics - Communication

Madison Averett - Gymnastics - Kinesiology

Makenna Clarke - Gymnastics - Dietetics

Kaitlin DeGuzman – Gymnastics - Communication

Anna Haigis - Gymnastics - Kinesiology

Mackenzie Harman - Gymnastics - Human Health Sciences

Kassidy Howell - Gymnastics - Kinesiology

Ashlyn LaClair - Gymnastics - Social Work

Shealyn Luksik - Gymnastics - Human Health Sciences

Megan Monfredi - Gymnastics - Sport and Exercise Psychology

Cally Nixon - Gymnastics - Social Work

Arianna Patterson - Gymnastics - Digital Media and Design

Elyssa Roberts - Gymnastics - Biosystems Engineering

Allison Snyder - Gymnastics - Agricultural and Medical Biotechnology

Ella Warren - Gymnastics - Communication

Raena Worley – Gymnastics - Kinesiology

Richard Clark - Rifle - Kinesiology

Mason Hamilton - Rifle - Agricultural Economics

Mason Joachim - Rifle - Psychology

Mitchell Nelson - Rifle - Biology

Emmie Sellers - Rifle - Agricultural and Medical Biotechnology

William Shaner - Rifle - Economics

Hailee Sigmon - Rifle - Career and Technical Education

Jaden Thompson - Rifle - Animal Sciences

Mary Tucker - Rifle - Kinesiology

Kyle Barker - Men's Swim & Dive - Kinesiology

Louis Barker - Men's Swim & Dive - Management

Daniel Blake - Men's Swim & Dive - Mechanical Engineering

Jakob Clark - Men's Swim & Dive - Computer Science

Timothy Ellett - Men's Swim & Dive - Finance

John Michael Gordon - Men's Swim & Dive - Finance

Maxwell Hawton - Men's Swim & Dive - Public Health

Chase Lane - Men's Swim & Dive - Kinesiology

Daniel Orcutt - Men's Swim & Dive - Management

Hank Siefert - Men's Swim & Dive - Finance

Mason Wilby - Men's Swim & Dive - Integrated Strategic Communication

Mingli Zhang - Men's Swim & Dive - Management Technology

Emily Baeth - Women's Swim & Dive - Information Communication

Bailey Bonnett - Women's Swim & Dive - Elementary Education

Caitlin Brooks - Women's Swim & Dive - Communication

Gillian Davey - Women's Swim & Dive - Kinesiology

Lauren Denham - Women's Swim & Dive - Community and Leadership Development

Riley Gaines - Women's Swim & Dive - Human Health Sciences

Jaida Garrett - Women's Swim & Dive - Psychology

Isabella Gati - Women's Swim & Dive - Kinesiology

Hayley Griesser - Women's Swim & Dive - Communication Sciences and Disorders

Parker Herren - Women's Swim & Dive - Political Science

Jaclyn Hill - Women's Swim & Dive - Kinesiology

Cara Hudson - Women's Swim & Dive - Clinical Leadership and Management

Olivia Huffman - Women's Swim & Dive - Psychology

Kyndal Knight - Women's Swim & Dive - Marketing

Beth McNeese - Women's Swim & Dive - Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies

Payton Neff - Women's Swim & Dive - Psychology

Lauren Poole - Women's Swim & Dive - Sociology

Kelly Rodriguez - Women's Swim & Dive - Marketing

Sophia Sorenson - Women's Swim & Dive - Marketing

Morgan Southall - Women's Swim & Dive - Management

Caroline Szydlowski - Women's Swim & Dive - Public Health

Trinity Ward - Women's Swim & Dive - Mechanical Engineering

Kaitlynn Wheeler - Women's Swim & Dive - Communication 

UK’s players on the SEC Honor Roll continues the trend of strong academic news:

• In November, it was announced that UK student-athletes broke both school records for NCAA Graduation Success Rate and Federal Graduation Rate. UK has broken or tied the GSR school record every year since the NCAA began measuring that statistic in 2005.
• Including the 2020 winter commencement and last spring’s graduation, 98 Wildcat student-athletes earned degrees during the 2020 calendar year.
• In December, 380 Wildcats achieved a GPA of 3.0 or higher for the fall semester, including 109 Cats who reached 4.0 for the semester. That continued UK Athletics’ streak of 17 consecutive semesters with a department-wide GPA of 3.0 or higher. 

 UK Athletics supports the academic success of its student-athletes through CATS — the first academic center of its kind dedicated solely to serving student-athletes. CATS is an important component of UK’s Student-Athlete Experience division, launched as a renewal of the department’s commitment to prepare student-athletes to enter life after UK.