Iona University student-athletes had a successful year in the classroom last year.  

The athletics department named 261 student-athletes to the 2021-2022 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Academic Honor Roll. 

This number was a small improvement (+8) from the 2020-2021 academic year where Iona named 253 athletes to the list.  

In total 2,958 student-athletes were named to the MAAC Academic Honor Roll from the 11 full-time members as of last season and the 14 associate members of the conference.  

Although Iona’s numbers were slightly up, the number was slightly down for the rest of the MAAC, (-5) from 2,963 in 2020-2021. 

Iona was joint fourth for the number of athletes on the Honor Roll tied on 261 with Quinnipiac while Marist (336), Fairfield (283) and Monmouth (270) rounded out the top three. 

Marist led the MAAC for the number of student-athletes on the Honor Roll for the 21st year in a row. 

To be eligible for the All-MAAC academic team a student-athlete must boast a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher on a 4.0 scale. 

Several Iona teams had good results as a whole, especially on the women’s side.  

Iona women’s Lacrosse team named eight athletes to the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division I Academic Honor Roll for the 2021-2022 academic year. 

To qualify for this prestigious honor, an athlete needed to have posted a team GPA of 3.2 or higher for the academic year, while the Gaels posted a 3.47 overall GPA as a team.  

Iona women’s lacrosse joined the other eight MAAC Schools on the list.  

The athletes on the lacrosse team who were added to the honor roll included Graduate students Erin O’Donnell and Kati Paavola, seniors Katherine Meyer, Emma Rippon, and Gabriele Thornton and juniors Amber Brewster, Emily Stewart and Katelyn Nieves. 

Iona women’s softball also had success in the classroom in the 2021-2022 academic school year. 

The team named 11 players to the Easton/ National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-America Scholar-Athletes list for their performance in the 2021-2022 academic year. 

The Gaels named to the list included freshman Maddy Lowry, sophomores Brielle Hill, Emma Capuano, Alyssa DeJianne, Kayla Haywood and Jamie Sheeran, junior Allie Taylor, seniors, Hannah Collins, Jessica Chilcott and Kara Zazzaro, and graduate student Natalia Meray.  

This ranking and honor represents the academic success of softball teams across the association’s membership categories.  

The NFCA recognizes student-athletes who posted a GPA of 3.5 or more for the cumulative academic year.  

In total 7,527 student-athletes captured Easton/ NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors in the 2021-2022 academic year.  

Many of Iona’s other sports teams were also rewarded for their hard work in the classroom.  

The women’s basketball team was recognized by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) for being a top 25 academic team (17th), as they posted a cumulative GPA of 3.621. 

The Iona men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams were recognized by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches (CSAA) for Scholar All-America honors, the women posting a 3.36 team GPA and the men a 3.2 team GPA.  

Six players from the Iona men’s golf team earned Golf All-Academic Team honors for the MAAC, while women’s Water Polo named 11 to the all-academic team.  

The results in the classroom were rounded out with the men’s cross-country team naming 23 athletes to the All-MAAC Academic team and 41 athletes were honored on the same team from the indoor track and field team.