Three Tusculum College student-athletes have received “All America” honors. Deonte Gist and Skylar West, members of the Tusculum football players, have been named to the 2011 Beyond Sports Network Division II All-America Football Team. Ashley Sarmiento, a member of the Pioneer volleyball team, has been named to the 2011 Capital One Academic All-America® NCAA Division II Volleyball Second Team.
Deonte Gist, Ashley Sarmiento and Skylar West, from left, have received "All America" honors.
West was named the All-America Second Team long-snapper, while Gist garnered honorable mention recognition as a return specialist.
West, a junior from Oneida, Tenn., becomes the first long-snapper in Tusculum history to earn All-America recognition. In November, he became only the second Tusculum long-snapper to garner All-South Atlantic Conference (SAC) First Team honors three times.
Gist, a senior from Wellford, S.C., earns his second All-America accolade as a return specialist this season, after being named to the Daktronics Division II Second Team. He shined on Tusculum’s special teams, where he led the conference in kickoff return average at 29.43 yards per return, which is seventh in the country. Of his 21 returns, two were for touchdowns, including a 94-yarder against Brevard earlier this season. He also returned a 92-yarder at Newberry, for his school-record fourth career kickoff return for touchdown.
Gist led the league in receptions for a second straight year, averaging 8.1 catches per contest, which are second in the nation (NCAA II). The 2010 consensus All-America receiver capped his outstanding career with 81 receptions for 900 yards and four touchdowns this season. He ended his Tusculum career as the program’s all-time leader in all-purpose yards (4,374) and kickoff returns yards (1,593).
Gist and teammate Rashaad Carter, a senior from Decatur, Ga., established a NCAA II record this year for the most career receptions by two players from the same team. Carter (210) and Gist (207) combined for 417 catches between them from 2008-2011.
Sarmiento, a 5-11 sophomore setter from Dayton, Ohio, has a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average, while majoring in mathematics and math education (K-12). Sarmiento becomes the first Academic All-American® in the volleyball program’s history.
On the volleyball court, she finished second in the South Atlantic Conference and 39th in the country in assists per set. Sarmiento currently has the second-best career assists per set average in school history at 10.34 and her 2,367 total assists are third in the Tusculum record books.
She has been named to both the college’s and SAC academic honors lists. Last season, she was the recipient of the Tusculum Freshman of the Year Academic Award and is a Tusculum academic scholarship recipient.
The Centerville High School graduate is also very active in the community where she is serving her first term as president of the Pioneer Student Athlete Advisory Council. Her community service activities include: “Tusculum Mentor for Kids”, Ride for Life, Scholar Athlete Student Leader and the Greeneville Humane Society.