By Steven Aldridge, Union University Assistant Director of Athletics for Sports Communications
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Gulf South Conference announced the 2023 GSC Spring Honor Roll and All-Academic Awards Friday and Union University placed 48 student-athletes on the list, including JJ Zimmer on the men’s golf all-academic.
All-Academic is a voted-on position and to be nominated, a player has to be at least a sophomore with a 3.2 minimum GPA and is a significant contributor to the team. The honor roll is for any varsity athlete who played against outside competition and has at least a 3.0 GPA.
Zimmer, a 5-foot-11 sophomore from Jackson, Tennessee, earned his first all-academic honor from the GSC. He is coming off a record-setting year, advancing to the NCAA D2 South/Southeast Region Championships, becoming the first Union golfer to play in the NCAA Nationals. Zimmer finished the year ranked No. XX in Division II. He played in nine events and 26 rounds with a 71.19 scoring average. He finished top-5 or better in eight of the nine events, including medalist honors in two tournaments. He finished fourth in the GSC Championships and was named first team All-GSC. He finished 16th in the NCAA D2 South/Southeast Regional.
The Union baseball team had 20 players named to the GSC Honor. The list included Ryan Evans, Will Allen Smith, Colby Davis, Ethan Orwig, Billy Beckham, Britt Netterville, Grayson Swanson, Sam Galbraith, Blake Barrett, Sam Poindexter, Trey Frierson, Lake Evans, Patrick Maxwell, Ben Smith, Ryan Aljancic, Grant Ross, Carson Chavies, Tanner Parmely, Ryan Middleton, and Matthew Sureda.
Men’s golf had nine players listed including Gray Campbell, Jackson Hughey, Blake Templeton, JJ Zimmer, Kip Patterson, Garrett McCraw, Timothy Pinkston, Will Brown, and Trey Tidwell.
The women’s golf team put six players on the list including Aubrie Cagle, Kallie Robertson, Karlie Alexander, McKinnley Korte, Cecily Berry, and Nicole Taylor.
Softball had 13 players on the honor roll including Hailey Sipes, Bryleigh Carneal, Macey Neal, Brooke Puckett, Courtney Marler, Riley Vaughn, Mallory Hildebrand, Idalia Alarcon, Fallon Groves, Kira Finkley, Emily Claire Felder, Addison Abell, and Grace White.
