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Taft College Athletics

TC Volleyball, Basketball earn State Academic Honors

Earning state All-Academic team honors from Taft were (left-right) Kailee Wakatake, Dayanara Mendoza, Brandy Edwards, and Yareli Gomez.
Earning state All-Academic team honors from Taft were (left-right) Kailee Wakatake, Dayanara Mendoza, Brandy Edwards, and Yareli Gomez.
December 13, 2023

TAFT, CA – During the 2022-2023 school year, there was a special group of student-athletes who were honored for 3C2A All-Academic Team.  For Taft College Athletics, four of those individuals made the honor roll: two from volleyball and two from basketball.

Requirements for the award are to have 24 or more credit hours and maintain above a 3.5 grade point average. Sophomores were only eligible for the award.

Kailee Wakatake and Dayanara Mendoza were both recipients for women's volleyball honored by the CCCWVCA. TC Volleyball Head Coach Mallori Rossi shared her comments, "I am extremely proud of Kailee and Dayanara for earning this prestigious award. Maintaining a 3.5 GPA is a challenging feat, and doing that while being a student athlete is quite impressive. The time commitment of being a successful student athlete is very demanding when you consider practice, games, traveling, weights, study hall, team meetings, team activities, and watching film. It takes a lot of resiliency and discipline to commit to high standards in the class and on the court. Our volleyball program takes great pride in our academics, and Kailee and Dayanara's exemplary efforts are perfect examples of what we strive for as a volleyball team."

As for women's basketball, Brandy Edwards and Yareli Gomez made the list by the CCCWBCA. A state record of 187 women's basketball players from 54 colleges that were recipients of the All-Academic Team.  Yareli Gomez was among the elite being recognized as only 1 of 21 players to earn a 4.0 gpa distinction. Taft Basketball Head Coach Romeo Lagmay, Jr. expressed his remarks, "As mentioned by Coach Rossi, there is a lot going on when one is a student-athlete. To be able to juggle and maintain a well-balanced schedule takes a whole lot of self-discipline. There's not only extreme and demanded work ethic in practices and games, but lots of academic studying, and finding the time to study that plays into a whole other ball game. These young adults deserve as much accolades as they can get."