By TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech's student-athletes turned in an eye-popping performance in the classroom during the Fall 2023 semester, securing Golden Eagle Athletics' eighth-straight semester with a departmental GPA of at least 3.20.
During the fall, Tech's 15 programs produced a collective mark of 3.364, the second-highest recorded department-wide GPA. It also represented the 30th straight semester that Tech Athletics' cumulative GPA exceeded the 3.0 plateau, a legacy that began in Spring 2009.
"Our student-athletes never cease to amaze me with what they can accomplish in the classroom," Tech Assistant Athletic Director for Academics and Student Welfare Dr. Leveda Birdwell expressed. "They truly displayed their work as students first this semester with such a historic GPA mark. We know we hold our student-athletes to high standards and to see them respond to that challenge in such a positive way is incredibly satisfying and exciting."
For the second semester in a row, an incredible 13 Golden Eagle teams delivered GPAs above the 3.0 mark, with eight programs seeing improvement from their Spring 2023 grades.
"It takes a lot of people throughout the University to help our student-athletes achieve such high marks," Wilson said. "From our faculty who spend countless hours in the classroom, to the efforts of Dr. Leveda Birdwell and her staff of Samantha Bates, Kara Phillips, and Virginia Lewis, who keep an eye on their success and work so closely with them to keep them on track, it means so much to me, to our department, and to our University to see these young men and women excel in so many ways."
The Golden Eagle softball team produced the department's top overall GPA with a mark of 3.706, the team's second-highest recorded mark in history. It represented softball's 39th consecutive semester with a GPA over 3.0. Finishing second was the women's golf team with an impressive 3.608, the program's 21st straight semester above a 3.0.
Both the volleyball and beach volleyball squads ranked third among Golden Eagle programs with matching GPAs of 3.565. That mark lifted volleyball's incredible streak of consecutive semesters with a GPA topping 3.0 to a whopping 47 in a row.
The Tech baseball team turned in its highest recorded GPA in program history with a mark of 3.472. Sporting a GPA of 3.527, the soccer team increased its streak above 3.0 to 40 consecutive semesters. Also keeping impressive streaks above the 3.0 threshold were both indoor and outdoor track & field (39 straight), tennis (31 straight), and women's cross country (23 straight).
