Six Lancers named to academic all-state team
Published 6:00 am Friday, July 17, 2020
Longwood University senior Corri Calandra was an All-Big South defender for the women’s lacrosse team and graduated with a 3.99 GPA in chemistry. (Photo courtesy of Longwood University)
Longwood University senior Dana Joss, No. 9, has now received an academic all-state award two years in a row. (Photo courtesy of Longwood University)
Longwood University senior Nathan Iskowitz was a four-year catcher in the Lancer baseball program and posted a 3.54 GPA. (Photo courtesy of Longwood University)
Longwood University junior Carrie Reaver boasts a perfect 4.00 GPA and her VaSID Academic All-State recognition is the latest honor in a decorated junior year. (Photo courtesy of Longwood University)
This was Teagan Stephenson’s second straight year receiving an academic all-state award. He was a senior in Longwood University’s men’s golf program during the 2019-20 season. (Photo courtesy of Longwood University)
Longwood University senior Chase Quinn graduated with a 3.585 GPA during a career in which he suited up for 30 matches, with 12 starts and more than 1,380 minutes on the pitch. (Longwood University)
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Six Longwood University student-athletes representing five different programs were honored for their academic and athletic achievements in June with recognition on the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Academic All-State Team.
Longwood’s six-player contingent included women’s lacrosse seniors Corri Calandra and Dana Joss, baseball senior Nathan Iskowitz, men’s soccer senior Chase Quinn, women’s soccer junior Carrie Reaver and men’s golf senior Teagan Stephenson.
The five seniors all received their bachelor’s degrees from Longwood this past May, while Reaver concluded her junior year.
The academic all-state awards are the second straight for both Joss and Stephenson, who appeared on the 2018-19 team as well.
Those six Lancers were named to a roster of the top performing student-athletes in Virginia alongside selections from more than 30 academic institutions from the commonwealth.
To be eligible for the VaSID Academic All-State Team, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.25 cumulative GPA and be of at least sophomore academic standing.
Calandra, Iskowitz, Joss, Quinn, Reaver and Stephenson all own GPAs greater than the 3.50 threshold for their academic careers, with Joss and Reaver both holding perfect marks of 4.00.
That unblemished academic resume for Joss earned her co-valedictorian status of Longwood’s 2020 graduating class, marking the second straight year and third time in the past six years that a Longwood student-athlete has won or shared valedictorian honors.
All six Lancers on this year’s academic squad represented different academic programs and areas of study at Longwood. Calandra graduated with a degree in chemistry, Iskowitz in kinesiology, Joss in history/ pre-law, Quinn in business administration, Stephenson in computer science and Reaver is studying biology.
Calandra was an All-Big South defender for the women’s lacrosse team and graduated with a 3.99 GPA in chemistry. She started 54 games in her four-year career and received one of the Longwood athletics department’s most prestigious awards in 2020 when she was selected winner of the Jimmy M. Yarbrough Inspiration Award. That honor punctuated a standout career in which she was perennially among Longwood’s annual leaders in ground balls and caused turnovers and entered her senior season as a Big South Preseason All-Conference selection.
Iskowitz was a four-year catcher in the Longwood baseball program and posted a 3.54 GPA. A former walk-on who earned a scholarship prior to his senior season, he played in 60 games during his career. The first hit of his career was a two-run double in only the second game of his freshman season against Charleston Southern University, and he went on to tag four of his 16 career hits for extra bases.
Joss’ academic resume continues to grow even after her graduation, with the title of VaSID Academic All-State Team award winner adding to a list of titles that already includes Academic All-American, Big South Christenberry Award winner and Longwood University co-valedictorian.
With her 4.00 GPA as a history/pre-law major and All-Big South credentials, she became only the second Lancer student-athlete to be named an Academic All-American. That honor accentuated a four-year career that saw her emerge as a four-year starter for the Longwood women’s lacrosse team.
In 2019 she earned All-Big South honors after ranking among the league’s top 10 in assists, points, game-winning goals, draw controls and caused turnovers, to help the Lancers to a program-record second-place finish in the Big South standings.
Joss also held multiple executive roles on the Longwood Student Athlete Advisory Committee, including president.
Quinn’s Academic All-State recognition marks the second time the Lancer defender has received all-academic attention after earning placement on the Big South All-Academic Team in 2018.
He graduated with a 3.585 GPA during a career in which he suited up for 30 matches, with 12 starts and more than 1,380 minutes on the pitch. He logged eight of those starts during a senior season that he capped off with two goals, both on the road in league play against Gardner-Webb and Radford universities.
The senior was an intricate part of the Lancer defense in his final season in the blue and white, recording a career-high 809 minutes of action.
Reaver’s VaSID Academic All-State recognition is the latest honor in a decorated junior year that has also seen her named Big South Women’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year and CoSIDA Academic All-District III.
The biology major boasts a perfect 4.00 GPA and is coming off of her sixth consecutive President’s List selection, all while emerging as one of the top defenders in the Big South Conference.
The former Big South Freshman of the Year received her second straight All-Big South nod in 2019, being named to the second team after once again elevating Longwood’s defense to the top tier of the conference.
She finished second on the team with more than 1,300 minutes on the pitch, despite missing the final three games with an injury, which were the first three absences of her standout career.
She also spent her 2019 summer interning at a hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina, while also taking Spanish-language medical classes.
Stephenson earned his undergraduate degree as a computer science major with a 3.64 GPA, the highest individual mark of Longwood’s graduating student-athletes.
As a four-year starter in golf, he led Longwood in scoring in 2019-20, averaging 71.72 across 18 rounds to cap a four-year career in which he shaved nearly five strokes off his average since his freshman season.
In total, Stephenson ranked fourth in the conference in top-10 finishes and third in the Big South in scoring averages, helping his Longwood team average the third-best team average-round score in the conference — 291.50.
The senior was also named a Division I Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar, was a member of the 2019-20 Big South All-Academic Team and the VaSID Academic All-State Team in 2019 .
