Six Lancers named to VaSID all-academic team

Published 10:45 am Wednesday, July 27, 2022

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Six Longwood student-athletes representing six different programs were honored for their success both on the field and in the classroom with recognition on the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Academic All-State team.

Longwood’s six player squadron includes baseball redshirt-sophomore Dominick D’Ercole, men’s basketball senior Zac Watson, men’s soccer senior Jonas Kalchner, field hockey sophomore Kylie Levine, women’s lacrosse senior Nicole Fordyce and softball senior Alexis Wayland. Kalchner has made the All-State team for the second consecutive year after being announced on the team in June 2021.

D’Ercole made his first Academic All-State team with a grade-point average (GPA) of 3.82, studying business administration. The Cary, North Carolina native went 5-9 with a 4.95 earned run average in 15 total appearances this past spring. He struck out a career high 33 batters and walked just 11 all season.

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A business administration major from Plano, Texas, Watson has a 3.83 GPA and has made the dean’s list all four semesters since coming to Farmville. He played and started in all 33 games for the Lancers and averaged 7.7 points per game this season while helping Longwood sweep the Big South regular season and tournament titles.

A psychology major from Eichenau, Germany, Kalchner became the fourth Lancer to earn the Academic All-State award multiple times. He has been named to the dean’s list every semester he has been at Longwood and has a 3.93 GPA. Kalchner appeared and started in 18 matches and played the most minutes on the team with 1,623 minutes recorded.

A kinesiology major with a 3.91 GPA, Levine has been recognized on the All-Academic squad for the Mid-American Conference and now the Virginia All-Academic team, all before her junior year. The Virginia Beach native appeared in all 13 games for the field hockey team last season and recorded one goal and four assists.

A senior on the women’s lacrosse team with a 3.90 GPA in kinesiology, Fordyce’s latest honor comes on the heels of her five times being named to the president’s list at Longwood and twice on the dean’s list. The Auckland, New Zealand native made 17 appearances and started in 15 games and had a career-best performance when she scored nine points against Howard.

Softball senior Alexis Wayland wrapped up her Longwood career with a 3.90 GPA in kinesiology. The Standardsville native was the only Lancer to appear and start in all 58 games for Longwood and led the team in runs batted in, doubles, home runs and slugging percentage.

VaSID Academic All-State honorees at Longwood University: Dominick D’Ercole, rising sophomore, Cary, North Carolina, 3.82, business administration, baseball; Zac Watson, senior, Plano, Texas, 3.83, business administration, men’s basketball; Jonas Kalchner, senior, Eichenau, Germany, 3.93, psychology, men’s soccer; Kylie Levine, sophomore, Virginia Beach, 3.91, kinesiology, field hockey; Nicole Fordyce, senior, Aukland, New Zealand, 3.90, kinesiology, women’s lacrosse; and Alexis Wayland, senior, Standardsville, 3.90, kinesiology, softball.