GENEVA, N.Y. -- Fifteen members of the 2022 Bates field hockey team were named to the NFHCA Division III National Academic Squad and five earned "Scholar of Distinction" honors, as announced this February by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association. 

On Tuesday, the Bobcats were one of 59 Division III programs to earn the NFHCA Division III National Academic Team Award, for recording a team grade-point average of 3.5 or higher during the fall semester of the current academic year.

The NFHCA Scholars of Distinction program recognizes student-athletes who have achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 3.9 or higher through the first semester of the 2022-23 academic year. 

Bates Scholars of Distinction this fall were sophomore Jessie Bard (Larchmont, N.Y.), first-year Summer Gordon (North Andover, Mass.), first-year Lucy Norris (Chicago, Ill.), junior Lauren Salazar (Mohegan Lake, N.Y.), and junior Emma Volkers (Bethesda, Md.). Salazar and Volkers are now both three-time Scholar of Distinction award-winners. 

Bard, Gordon, Norris, Salazar, and Volkers join teammates senior Grace Biddle (State College, Pa.), junior Ella Blum (South Salem, N.Y.), junior captain Sarah Bussell (Mohegan Lake, N.Y.) sophomore Anna Cote (Auburn, Maine), junior captain Paige Cote (Auburn, Maine), sophomore Maria Femia (Canton, Mass.), junior Molly Harmon (Farmington, Maine), first-year Kaili Jacobsen (Fairfield, Conn.), first-year Emma Queen (Pittsburgh, Pa.), and sophomore Amanda Zerbib (Larchmont, N.Y.) on the NFHCA National Academic Squad, which recognizes undergraduate collegiate student-athletes who have achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or higher through the first semester of the current academic year. 

Biddle, Bussell, and Paige Cote are all four-time selections to the NFHCA National Academic Squad. Bussell and Cote return next season for an extra year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cote was named an NFHCA Third Team All-American in December for her performance on the field this past fall. 

Bates finished the 2022 season ranked 20th in the country, going 9-7 overall and 5-5 in NESCAC action. The Bobcats posted their fourth winning season in the past six years.