Haverhill, MA (July 30, 2026) – For the third consecutive year, the Northern Essex Community College athletic department led all Region 21 schools as they accumulated 10 NJCAA All-Academic honorees, as announced by the NJCAA earlier this week.
Individuals achieve All-Academic status by earning a 3.60 GPA or higher for the academic year while completing at least 24 credits or by completing degree requirements if less than 24 credits are required.
First Team All-Academic honors are awarded to those who achieve a perfect 4.0 GPA, while second team honors are awarded to those who achieve a 3.80-3.99 GPA and third team recognition goes to those who have earned a 3.60-3.79 GPA for the academic year.
The Knights had a pair recognized on the first team as Franchesca Karam (Seabrook, NH) of the women’s volleyball team and Rebecca Heathman (Billerica) from the women’s basketball team. Both achieved a perfect 4.0 for the year for their work in the classroom. Heathman was also named the NECC Female Scholar Athlete of the Year as she walked across the commencement stage in May with an overall GPA of 3.97
Earning second team All-Academic honors were Hina Atwell (Reading) from the women’s cross country and Jaren Megan (Fairhaven) from the baseball team, who is continuing his athletic and academic careers at Stonehill College.
Rounding out the Knights All Academic selections were six selections to the third team. All Region volleyball selection Cherly Brito Rosario (Lawrence) led the group and was joined by Jay’von Depina (Brockton) of the national championship men’s basketball team, women’s basketball’s Amy Fluet (Methuen) and a trio of sophomores from the Knights World Series baseball team rounded out the third team selections in Joshua Jones (Hamstead, NH), Jake Yngber (Miami, FL) and Jesse Yngber (Miami, FL).
The 10 All-Academic selections bring the Knights’ all-time count to an even 100.
NECC will start the 2026-27 academic year on August 11th with the Athletic Kickoff Night on the Haverhill campus at 5:00 pm.
