Agner named Academic All-American
PERKINSTON — K.K. Agner is a rare two-time CSC Academic All-American in the College Division, having been named to the prestigious 11-person women's team Thursday. She returned to play softball at Mississippi Gulf Coast after using a third year of COVID eligibility.
Agner, who is from Horn Lake, is the eighth Gulf Coast student-athlete to have won a spot on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-American squad since 2019 and the second of 2022-23. Chase Kaiser was announced as a member of the men's team on Wednesday.
"It's a big thing to me," Agner said. "I'm big about my grades and academics. I do want to be a physical therapist, so I've got to. To have it twice is kind of cool."
College Sports Communicators, formerly known as CoSIDA, is the national organization for athletics communications professionals. The Academic All-American program was started in 1952. The College Division has At-Large category awarded for all sports played during the academic year, and only sophomores are eligible. Agner and Jones' Lauren Lindsey are the only repeat winners on this year's squad.
Tennis' Tanyaradzwa Kaome (So., Harare, Zimbabwe/The Heritage School) earned Academic All-District honors.
Agner finished with a 3.84 GPA in pre-physical therapy. She's still talking about schools to continue her collegiate playing career.
Agner was a vital cog on the 2021 team that finished fourth in the country. The sophomore first baseman from Horn Lake earned All-NJCAA Region 23 and All-MACCC honors after batting .390 with 14 home runs and 52 RBI. She led the Bulldogs this year with 10 homers and 34 RBI.
In 2022, she batted .366 with 10 HR and 34 RBI, and this year she led the team with 14 homers and 56 RBI while batting .410 with a .556 on-base percentage. She was named to the All-MACCC team for the third time.
She said she studied for exams on a bus more often than she would have liked, but she did what needed to be done. It's not always easy to concentrate on schoolwork in those environments, but she always managed to get it done.
"It's always hard being an athlete," Agner said. "As long as you find your separate times to do your schoolwork and also have time to put in for your sport, it's all time management."
For more information on MGCCC's 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
