NORTHBOROUGH, Mass.— The Colorado Mesa University women's lacrosse team was named as an Academic Honor Squad and had eight individuals selected to the Academic Honor Roll by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association which announced its annual academic awards on Tuesday.
 
The Mavericks' individual honorees were Kenzie Blackwell, Nici Boutwell, Madi DeVries, Lula Mitchell, Elizabeth Posavad, Raquel Ruhme, Ashton Whittle and Abigail Wittmer.
 
The Mavericks have now received the team award five times, most recently in 2019.  It was not awarded in 2020 due to ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic.  In order to be eligible, teams must have posted a 3.2 or higher GPA throughout the 2020-21 academic year. 
 
A total of 319 squads across NCAA Division I, II and III and NAIA were recognized.  CMU was one of 55 Division II programs and one of just two from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (Regis) to earn the honor.
 
In order to be eligible for individual honor roll, student-athletes must be a junior, senior or graduate student and earned a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher GPA. 
 
The IWLCA honored 442 student-athletes from 73 different institutions on the NCAA Division II Academic Honor Roll this year.
 
In 2021, their first under head coach Shannon McHale, the Mavericks went 8-5 overall and posted a 7-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference record while advancing to the RMAC Tournament Championship game.