Mesa CC Proving to be One of the Best

MESA, AZ – As Mesa prepares for another year of intercollegiate athletics it is a fitting time to examine what MCC sports has accomplished in recent years.  

Over the last three school years, from 2013-16, the T-Birds have been among the top two-year colleges in many respects, both athletic and academic.  

Using the classroom as the first metric, Mesa has had 63 student-athletes earn NJCAA all-academic honors over that three-year span, including a record 23 this past year. To earn that distinction a student must have a 3.6-or- better GPA. In addition, MCC has produced 20 all academic teams which must meet a standard of a team-wide cumulative GPA of at least 3.0.  

Athletically there are several measuring sticks.  

MCC has had eight teams finish among the top five in the nation, including two national championships. The T-Birds have won 13 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC) championships in the last three years and have been runner-up 12 times.  

And, in the National Alliance of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA) Cup, a nation-wide measuring stick, Mesa has been in the top two percent of the more than 400 colleges in the scholarship division.  

Individually, athletes are moving on to four-year schools at an average of about 80 per year, including to some of the most prestigious institutions in the nation including Purdue, Ohio State, Michigan State, USC, California and, of course, Arizona State and Arizona, among many others.  

In addition, one MCC standout, Demarious Randall, was a first round pick of the Green Bay Packers in the NFL draft and baseball player Jordan Zimmerman was chosen in the seventh round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Los Angeles Angels.  

And, to top it off, MCC graduate Pau Tonnesen will be participating in the Olympic decathlon, having completed an outstanding career at the University of Arizona.  

All details are broken out in the accompanying chart.