KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Goshen College Athletics Department strives to develop student-athletes athletically, academically, and as individuals of character in the community.

On Friday, the Maple Leafs saw a major milestone in those efforts as 26 fall student-athletes were named 2011 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes.

As fall national championships wrap up at multiple sites throughout the country, the academic awards rolled in.  In the previous three years alone, the Goshen College Athletic Department has been able to boast an impressive 134 scholar-athletes.

This year's fall total of 26 is just three short of the program record (29) for the fall, set back in 2009.  In addition, for the second-straight year, the Maple Leafs' men's soccer team had the most scholar-athletes (8) of any school in the entire NAIA.

Nominated by each institution's head coach, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and have achieved junior academic status to qualify.

Awards in men's and women's tennis and golf will be announced in the spring along with baseball, softball, and track and field.  Basketball honors will be announced at the conclusion of the season in late winter/ early spring.

2011 Fall Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes

Men's Cross Country (2)
Josh Delp (Sellersville, Pa.)
Jacob GunderKline (Yellow Springs, Ohio)
Women's Cross Country (6)
Leah Thill (Paoli, Ind.)
Alita Yoder (Elkhart, Ind.)
Erin Helmuth (Elkhart, Ind.)
Karla Folker (Goshen, Ind.)
Hannah Bartel (Iowa City, Iowa)
Lydia Alderfer (Harleysville, Pa.)
Volleyball (6)
Cassie Greives (Rochester, Ind.)
Kate Yoder (Mason, Mich.)
Indigo Miller (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Hannah Grieser (Goshen, Ind.)
Karina Rohrer-Meck (Archbold, Ohio)
Naomi Webster (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.)
Women's Soccer (4)
Kristina Lopienski (Bartlett, Ill.)
Nora Miller (Goshen, Ind.)
Mara Swartzentruber (Albuquerque, N.M.)
Lynn Weaver (Goshen, Ind.)
Men's Soccer (8)
Greg Thiessen (Austin, Texas)
Joel Maust (Goshen, Ind.)
Ryan Troyer (Fredericksburg, Ohio)
Martin Brubaker (Goshen, Ind.)
Lewis Caskey (Goshen, Ind.)
Jan Dohnal (Hluk, Czech Republic)
Brian O'Leary (Seattle, Wash.)
Aaron Shelly (Bluffton, Ohio)