STARKVILLE, Miss. – For the second time in four years,
coach Tory Acheson's Tennessee Tech softball team has produced the
highest combined team GPA in all of Division I, earning an
impressive 3.619 mark during the 2010-11 academic year. Tech was
also the Division I national champion in academic performance in
the 2007-08 season.
The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Academic Awards
program honors both collegiate and high school teams for their
submitted GPAs for the academic year. As a second component
of the program, all submitted student-athletes who achieved a 3.50
GPA during the academic year are named as a NFCA All-America
Scholar-Athlete. The individual honorees will be announced on
Wednesday, October 5 on NFCA.org.
"We're very proud of the kids for the hard work they put in in the classroom," Acheson said. "To be recognized as the number one Division I team in the nation is a great accomplishment. This past year, even our weakest kids academically were still strong by most people's standards."
The Golden Eagles ranked first nationally in 2007-08, fourth in
2008-09, and seventh last year before returning to the top spot in
2010-11.
"We could not be any more proud of coach Acheson and his
student-athletes for this achievement, and to be ranked four years
in a row really says something about their effort, dedication and
commitment to academic success," said Mark Wilson, TTU Director of
Athletics. "This ranking just reinforces what we already
know, that coach Acheson and his student-athletes are truly winners
in collegiate athletics."
Division III Northwestern (Minn.) tallied a 3.694 team grade point
average to lead all colleges in the 2011 NFCA Top 10 All-Academic
team rankings. This marks the first time in program history that
the Eagles have led either the Division III or all-college
rankings.
Leading the way in the NAIA this year was Central Methodist who
turned in a 3.627 GPA. Illinois Central unseated the
two-time, defending junior college winner Wallace St.-Hanceville
with a 3.540 and Division II Central Missouri rounded out the
collegiate divisional winners with a 3.533.
Below are listed the Top 10 teams in each of the five collegiate
categories (NCAA Division I, II and III; NAIA; all junior college
divisions). For a complete listing of all team GPAs, go to http://www.nfca.org/pagebank/?id=1916.
NCAA Division
I
1. Tennessee Technological University –
3.619
2. Southern Illinois University – 3.611
3. Robert Morris University – 3.553
4. Houston Baptist University – 3.551
5. Bowling Green State University – 3.534
6. Youngstown State University – 3.523
7. Troy University – 3.512
8. University of Alabama – 3.510
9. East Tennessee State University – 3.495
10 (tie). Eastern Michigan University – 3.477
10 (tie). Stetson University – 3.477
NCAA Division
II
1. University of Central Missouri – 3.533,
2. Lynn University – 3.526, 3. Texas Woman’s University
– 3.502, 4. University of Arkansas at Monticello –
3.487, 5. University of Findlay – 3.460, 6. Mansfield
University – 3.450, 7. Chowan University – 3.435, 8.
Grand Canyon University 3.430, 9. Rollins College – 3.426,
10. Limestone College – 3.421.
NCAA Division
III
1. Northwestern College – 3.694, 2. Spalding
University – 3.650, 3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
– 3.600, 4. Pomona-Pitzer Colleges – 3.578, 5. Suffolk
University – 3.558, 6. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges
– 3.512, 7. Thiel College – 3.490, 8. Skidmore College
– 3.487, 9. Emerson College – 3.480, 10. Lebanon Valley
College – 3.479.
NAIA
1. Central Methodist University – 3.627, 2.
William Carey University – 3.559, 3. McKendree University
– 3.520, 4. Lindenwood University – 3.518, 5. St.
Xavier University – 3.496, 6. Bethel University (Tenn.)
– 3.490, 7. Concordia University (Neb.) – 3.484, 8.
Columbia College (Mo.) – 3.480, 9. Southern Nazarene
University – 3.471, 10. Mount Marty College –
3.445.
Junior
College
1. Illinois Central College – 3.540, 2.
Wallace State Community College, Hanceville – 3.485, 3. Iowa
Western Community College – 3.408, 4. Salt Lake Community
College – 3.404, 5. East Mississippi Community College
– 3.393, 6. Hinds Community College – 3.379, 7. Labette
Community College – 3.352, 8. Holmes Community College
– 3.338, 9. College of Southern Idaho – 3.282, 10.
Indian Hills Community College – 3.280.