FLORENCE, S.C. –Francis Marion University athletic officials recently announced the names of 12 Patriot student-athletes named to the university’s chapter of Chi Alpha Sigma, the National College Athlete Honor Society.

To earn a place in this honor society, a student-athlete must be at least a junior, have a 3.40 cumulative grade point average on a 4.00 scale, and have an endorsement from his or her respective head coach. The nominees are then screened by a selection committee.

The inductees are cross country and track and field athlete Ariel Ortiz (Falls Church, Va.), women’s volleyball player Jackie Phiel (Amherst, Ohio); women’s softball players Jenna Sexton (Marietta, Ga.) and Monica Wofford (Myrtle Beach, S.C.); women’s soccer player Jody Rhoderick (Middletown, Md.), men’s tennis players Matthew Keth (Border, South Africa) and James Maclachlan (Johannesburg, South Africa); and women’s tennis players Sarah Hickman (Florence), Magda Jezovicova (Cesky Tesin, Czech Republic), Jenny Ludwig (Cologne, Germany), Kamini Murugaboopathy (Chennai, India), and Sarka Vitkova (Humpolec, Czech Republic).

Four current Patriot student-athletes were inducted last year: baseball player Chris Hutto (Islandton, S.C.), cross country and track and field runner Patrick Hopewell (Malvern, Pa.), women’s tennis player Jordan Gettys (Manning, S.C.), and women’s soccer player Brittany Rothenbach (Bel Air, Md.).

Chi Alpha Sigma was founded in May 1996 by DePauw University head football coach Nick Mourouzis. The organization currently has 150 chapters in 38 states. Francis Marion is one of only six chapters in South Carolina, and FMU was the first school to have a chapter in the Palmetto State.

Over the past seven years, 57 different FMU student-athletes have earned this honor.

Chi Alpha Sigma's purposes are: to encourage and reward high academic scholarship of college athletes at four-year accredited institutions; to recognize outstanding academic achievement by intercollegiate varsity letterwinners; to encourage good citizenship, moral character, and friendship among the high academic achievers in college athletics; to recognize and honor the individual athlete, his/her team, sport, athletic department, and college or university; and to mentor and to provide leadership to other athletes.