Eleven Hope College teams have earned the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Team GPA Award for the 2015-16 school year.
The MIAA Team GPA Award is presented to conference athletic teams that achieve a 3.300 or better GPA for an academic year. Grade point averages are calculated at the end of the academic year.
The MIAA champion women’s cross country team topped Hope teams with a 3.68 GPA. Coach Mark Northuis’ Flying Dutch recorded the fourth-highest average among 95 MIAA honorees.
The women’s cross country team is one of two MIAA teams to earn the Team GPA Award all 18 seasons since the program’s debut in the 1998-99 academic year.
The MIAA champion women’s tennis team joined women’s cross country as two of 10 MIAA teams to finish with a 3.6 GPA or higher. Coach Adam Ford’s Flying Dutch had a 3.66 GPA.
Other Hope teams recognized are: women’s swimming & diving at 3.59 (John Patnott), women’s indoor track & field at 3.57 (Kevin Cole), women’s soccer at 3.56 (Leigh Sears), women’s outdoor track & field at 3.54 (Kevin Cole), women’s lacrosse at 3.50 (Kim Vincent), volleyball at 3.43 (Becky Schmidt), softball at 3.38 (Mary VandeHoef), MIAA champion women’s basketball at 3.36 (Brian Morehouse) and men’s cross country at 3.33 (Mark Northuis).
“We’re proud of our student-athletes for their successes in their sports, but also in the classroom,” co-athletic director Tim Schoonveld said. “We continue to strive for academic and competitive excellence.”