Twelve of Grace College’s athletic programs received the academic distinction of being NAIA Scholar-Teams for the 2013-14 season.
Grace landed two squads in the nation’s top 100 overall for GPA, including women’s soccer and women’s tennis. The women’s soccer team, coached by Michael Voss, led all NAIA women’s soccer programs with a sparkling 3.75 GPA. It was the team’s third straight year leading its sport in GPA to claim an unofficial academic national championship.
Women’s tennis, led by first-year head coach Scott Moore, posted a 3.65 GPA to finish 57th overall across all teams. They boasted the second-highest GPA in the Crossroads League and 11th-highest in their sport.
“The continued academic excellence that our athletic programs achieve is a testament to the commitment and dedication of our coaches and student-athletes,” said Grace athletic director Chad Briscoe. “These prestigious awards are a great reflection of the pursuit of academic and athletic Christian excellence that our programs strive for at Grace. The academic recognition of all of our programs is a great reflection on Grace College and Grace Athletics.”
Men’s basketball and men’s soccer also finished in the top three of the Crossroads League. The men’s basketball team, coached by Jim Kessler, finished No. 2 in the CL and No. 6 in the sport with a 3.37 GPA. Men’s soccer ranked No. 3 in the CL and No. 11 in the sport with a 3.26 GPA under coach Matt Hotchkin.
Other Lancer programs named NAIA Scholar-Teams include: softball (3.43 GPA), women’s track and field (3.41), volleyball, (3.37), women’s basketball (3.37), women’s cross country (3.35), baseball (3.22), men’s track and field (3.16) and men’s tennis (3.13).
To achieve Scholar-Team status from the NAIA, a team must have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) as defined by the institution. The team GPA includes all varsity student-athletes certified as eligible.
To view the complete release, including a list of all Scholar-Teams sorted by GPA and by school, click here.