KANSAS CITY, Mo.- The MIAA released its MIAA Academic Awards for the 2024 Women's Soccer season on Thursday morning. 17 Jets earned academic honors with one scholar-athlete, five earned Academic Excellence, and 12 Jets earned academic honor roll. 

The prestigious MIAA Academic Excellence Award was achieved by 23 total athletes; five Jets earned this honor. An MIAA Academic Excellence Award recipient must have a grade point average used by the institution for purposes of NCAA academic certification of at least 4.00 at the certifying member institution. The honoree also must have at least two terms of grades reported at the certifying member institution, excluding summer terms. The athletes who earned this award are listed below. 

Academic Excellence
Maylani Birckbichler
Grace Long
Makenzie Shay
Ariana Sweitzer
Marta Aranda

The Scholar-Athlete distinction went to 24 student-athletes. A Scholar-Athlete is an individual that has a grade point average used by the institution for purposes of NCAA academic certification of 3.50 or better at the certifying member institution. They must have at least two terms of attendance at the certifying member institution, excluding summer terms. The student-athlete must also earn All-MIAA honors for the current season. Maylani Birckbichler earned Scholar-Athlete status. Birckbichler was named All-MIAA Honorable Mention earlier this year, her second year in a row earning honorable mention status. Bickbichler added one goal this season with 927 minutes played, eight shots on goal, two points, and 17 games played. 

Scholar-Athlete
Maylani Birckbichler

In the Academic Honor Roll category, 184 individuals were mentioned, 13 Jets earned this honor. To be recognized on the Academic Honor Roll, one must have a grade point average used by the institution for purposes of NCAA academic certification of 3.00 or above at the certifying member institution. The individual must also have at least two terms of attendance at the certifying member institution, excluding summer terms. The athletes who have earned this honor are listed below. 

Academic Honor Roll
Maggie Bielefeld 
Maylani Birckbichler
Reina Cline 
Brooke DeAngelis
Elle Johnson
Devynn Knipp 
Kinsey Logan 
Madison Minks 
Cassie Moeder 
Alyssa Rowland 
Kaylyn Truong 
Jordan Webster
Abigail Welch 

Birckbichler was one of five MIAA women's soccer players to be honored with all three of the Association's postseason academic awards. The five student-athletes to have extraordinary success in the classroom and in competition were Maylani Birckbichler, Missouri Western's junior defender Brookelyn Buttolph and senior goalkeeper Keeley Kroonberg, Northwest Missouri's sophomore forwards Ekaterina Theoharidis and Makenna West.

These academic awards do not include true freshmen or first-year transfers who played on MIAA soccer teams in the 2024 season. The Association will release its MIAA Newcomer Academic Awards from the 2024-25 academic year in late June, following the completion of those athletes' first two full terms at an MIAA institution.