PORTLAND, Ore. - Cascade College women's basketball players Te Awhina Aranui and Mary Layton have received recognition for their academic excellence.

Both were named 2008 Daktronics/NAIA All-America Scholar Athletes and CCC Scholar Athletes for their acheivments in the classroom. Aranui is a senior from Rotorua, New Zealand ind is majoring in English. Layton is a senior from Buckley, Washington and is an Elementary Education major.

"It was a real pleasure to coach these two ladies," noted head coach Matt Murphy. "Their dedication to their studies has set the standard for our women's program. They will be greatly missed, on and off the court."

In order to be a recipient of the NAIA-Daktronics Scholar-Athlete award, one must fulfill these requirements: the recipient must be a junior or above in academic standing; has been in attendance at the nominating institution a minimum of one full year of attendance; has a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.50 (on a 4.0 scale) at the time of nomination at the nominating institution; has been certified by the school as eligible.