AMERICUS, Ga. -- Georgia Southwestern State University placed 101 student-athletes on the 2018-19 Peach Belt Conference Presidential Honor Roll released Thursday afternoon by the league office. The Hurricanes have increased their annual total on the PBC Presidential Honor Roll by 77 percent over the last decade.
"We are extremely proud of these student-athletes," GSW Associate Director of Athletics Christie Ward said. "They spend countless hours practicing, lifting weights, studying film, travel and competing on campus and around the southeast. They juggle a lot more than the average student.
"To have this many student-athletes not only give their best efforts on the court or field, but to show this greatness and excel in the classroom is truly amazing. Their hard work and dedication to not only being an athlete, but to being a great student is an accurate depiction of a Division II athlete. We are so pleased to be able to highlight such a huge honor for all their hard work this academic year."
The Hurricane baseball program had the largest number of student-athletes on the list with 24, which was three more than their department-leading total from last year. Men's soccer was eight shy of baseball with 16 honorees.
The women's tennis team led all GSW sports with the highest percentage of its roster on the Presidential Honor Roll. All seven members of the program earned accolades, with five being named Gold Scholars. Below is a list of the top five programs in 2018-19 according to the percentage of its roster receiving the Peach Belt honor:
| Rank | Sport | Percent of Athletes on Honor Roll |
| 1 | Women's Tennis | 100% |
| 2 | Men's Tennis | 88.9% |
| 3 | Men's Soccer | 72.7% |
| 4 | Men's Golf | 71.4% |
| Women's Cross Country | 71.4% |
The Presidential Honor Roll recognizes all student-athletes at the 12 Peach Belt member institutions who had a GPA of 3.0 or higher for the academic year. It was announced Thursday that 1,517 student-athletes had earned the recognition.
The honor roll has been divided into four groups: Presidential Scholars, Bronze Scholars, Silver Scholars and Gold Scholars. All student-athletes with a GPA from 3.0 to 3.24 are Presidential Scholars while Bronze Scholars are 3.25 to 3.49; Silver 3.50 to 3.74 and Gold Scholars are those with a 3.75 to 4.00.
A department record was set this year as 24 student-athletes earned Gold Scholar recognition. By comparison, the Hurricanes had seven student-athletes reach the top level in 2007-08.
Listed below is the complete list of GSW academic honorees on the 2018-19 Peach Belt Conference Presidential Honor Roll:
Gold Scholars [24]: Matthew Mamatas (Baseball), Tucker Smith (Baseball), Tyler Summerall (Baseball), Jamison Wilks (Baseball), Wil Hernandez (Men's Golf), Katherine McGarr (Women's Cross Country), Chris Avery (Men's Soccer), Francesco Bazzano (Men's Soccer), Manuel Duran (Men's Soccer), Thiago Elias (Men's Soccer), Andres Labrada (Men's Soccer), Julian Rugel (Men's Soccer), Eduarda Giusti (Women's Soccer), Alison Rugel (Women's Soccer), Jennifer Jernigan (Softball), Madason Messer (Softball), Autumn Tripp (Softball), Kenneth Limyadi (Men's Tennis), Charli Allen (Women's Tennis), Kendall Crew (Women's Tennis), Celia del Castillo (Women's Tennis), Hannah Hogg (Women's Tennis), Alex Rhodes (Women's Tennis).
Silver Scholars [30]: Jeremiah Barnett (Baseball), Cole Garrett (Baseball), Jacob Harrell (Baseball), Hayden Martin (Baseball), Matthew Snider (Baseball), Elias Birkeland (Men's Golf), Kya Cochran (Women's Basketball), Kayla Smith (Women's Basketball), Connie Lewis (Women's Cross Country), Pedro Chung (Men's Soccer), Rafael Faria (Men's Soccer), Zahmyre Harris (Men's Soccer), Adam Jackson (Men's Soccer), Jonathan Sayers (Men's Soccer), Geraldine Alvarez (Women's Soccer), Ashlyn Baker (Women's Soccer), Rachel Cochran (Women's Soccer), Michelle Gustavsen (Women's Soccer), Leila Hamed (Women's Soccer), Shelbie Mills (Women's Soccer), Cassidy Burton (Softball), Kaylynn Church (Softball), Shannon Gibson (Softball), Allyson Murdock (Softball), Hayley Tierce (Softball), Chloe Zoeller (Softball), Alex Canovas (Men's Tennis), Kyle Eason (Men's Tennis), Bryce McGuire (Men's Tennis), Beau Millwood (Men's Tennis).
Bronze Scholars [18]: Jason Baita (Baseball), Jared Donalson (Baseball), Bradley Hough (Baseball), Jonathan Martin (Baseball), Grace Regan (Women's Cross Country), Retchiel Roble (Women's Cross Country), Dylan Marshall (Men's Soccer), Divin Moke (Men's Soccer), Matthew Sherry (Men's Soccer), Caleb Zolman (Men's Soccer), Alisa Barr (Women's Soccer), Haley Griffin (Softball), Kayla Rowell (Softball), Christina Wells (Softball), Matthew Limyadi (Men's Tennis), Shawn Lunde (Men's Tennis), Maria Taboada (Women's Tennis), Sophia Winters (Women's Tennis).
Presidential Scholars [29]: Guy Anderberg (Baseball), Jakob Brown (Baseball), Kole Clark (Baseball), Mark Felton (Baseball), Hunter Foster (Baseball), Andy Moore (Baseball), Peyton Sells (Baseball), Devin Shea (Baseball), John Sutton (Baseball), Miguel Urbina (Baseball), Ryan Cahill (Men's Golf), Simon Estrada (Men's Golf), Vincent Norrman (Men's Golf), Devin Watson (Men's Basketball), Kris Beckham (Women's Basketball), Tyra Smith (Women's Basketball), Morgan Towells (Women's Basketball), Kierra York (Women's Basketball), Alex Exum (Women's Cross Country), Shane Madray (Men's Soccer), Liz Cervantes (Women's Soccer), Emily Collum (Women's Soccer), Ella Hawkins (Women's Soccer), Avery Heid (Women's Soccer), Victoria Moore (Women's Soccer), Ansley Dean (Softball), Mackenzy McFarland (Softball), Aimee Oglesby (Softball), Nacho Garcia de Sola (Men's Tennis).