By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The Ohio Valley Conference released its annual Academic Medal of Honor winners today as 23 University of Tennessee at Martin student-athletes earned that title with perfect 4.0 Grade Point Averages during the 2022-23 academic year.
The 23 Skyhawks who received OVC Academic Medal of Honor accolades are tied for the second-most in school history, trailing only the 28 student-athletes from 2021-22. Overall, UT Martin has generated 381 OVC Academic Medal of Honor recipients since joining the league in 1992.
The OVC Academic Medal of Honor is given annually to the student-athletes who achieve the highest GPA in a Conference-sponsored sport. A total of 288 student-athletes brought home OVC Academic Medal of Honor awards for the 2022-23 campaign.
Individually, Dylan Mott received her third OVC Academic Medal of Honor for volleyball (and second for beach volleyball) today while Catey Hunt from the Skyhawk soccer squad also earned her third such award. Shae Littleford (women’s basketball), Izzy Paterson (soccer), Hannah Zahn (soccer), Avry Blume (softball), Emily Brown (softball) and Dylan Pumpian (men’s basketball) nabbed their second career OVC Academic Medal of Honor.
Eleven different Skyhawk athletic programs produced at least one OVC Academic Medal of Honor winner, paced by the men’s track and field squad (four). Additionally, the UT Martin women’s basketball (three) and men’s cross country (three) teams generated the most OVC Academic Medal of Honor student-athletes in their respective sports.
The OVC will announce the recipients of the Commissioner’s Honor Roll (at least a 3.25 GPA) on Monday, Aug. 7.
UT Martin’s OVC Academic Medal of Honor recipients are listed below. Multiple asterisks indicate the number of years the student-athlete has been named to the list:
Men’s Track and Field (4): Jack Blyth, Brady Fry, Luke Johnson, George Payne
Women’s Basketball (3): Shae Littleford**, Kenley McCarn, Lexi Rubel
Beach Volleyball (3): Lucy Kaufman, Brooke Kuball, Dylan Mott**
Men’s Cross Country (3): Jack Blyth, Luke Johnson, George Payne
Soccer (3): Catey Hunt***, Izzy Patterson**, Hannah Zahn**
Softball (2): Avry Blume**, Emily Brown**
Men’s Basketball (1): Dylan Pumpian**
Women’s Cross Country (1): Maggie Roy
Rifle (1): Victoria Petersen
Women’s Track and Field (1): Maggie Roy
Volleyball (1): Dylan Mott***
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information
