BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The Jacksonville State softball team has earned the Ohio Valley Conference's Team Academic Achievement Award for its efforts in the classroom in 2009-10, the league office has announced.

The Gamecocks were the recipient of the softball award, which goes to the team who places the highest percentage of its student-athletes on the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll, an honor that goes to each OVC athlete with a 3.25 grade point average or higher. JSU had 13 members of its 2010 roster on the honor roll, led by senior Chrissy O'Neal, whose 4.0 GPA made her the team's lone OVC Medal of Honor winner.

The Team Academic Achievement Award caps what was a successful year across the board for head coach Jana McGinnis and the Gamecocks, who won the OVC Tournament to advance to their third-straight NCAA Regional. They were also recognized with the league's Sportsmanship Award for softball.

“This is another great honor for our program,” McGinnis said of her team's latest honor. “Obviously we are trying to win games on the field, but the main focus for our program is to have our girls leave here with degrees and as good citizens. To see them succeed in all of those areas is such a rewarding thing for our staff.”

Of the 16 members of the Gamecocks' roster in 2010, 13 (83 percent) earned their spot on the Commissioner's Honor Roll. The players on the list are Amanda Crow, Kaycee Crow, Hillary Downs, Tess Echols, Ashley Eliasson, Kelci Johnston, Mary Beth Ledbetter, Cara Longworth, O'Neal, Hilary Phillips, Nikki Prier, Krystal Ruth and Allison Svoboda.