Five John Brown University athletic programs were honored with National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics 2013-14 Scholar-Team Awards, which included 1,290 programs across the country.
The women's tennis program led all JBU teams with a 3.43 grade-point average, followed by volleyball (3.39), women's cross country (3.33), women's soccer (3.31) and men's cross country (3.08).
"John Brown and the Department of Athletics is committed to academic success for our teams and student-athletes," said Director of Athletics Robyn Daugherty after the awards were announced Tuesday. "We also know that JBU is known for academic rigor in all classes, therefore, we are extremely pleased that five of our teams were honored today for their hard work in the classroom."
For a team to be considered for the NAIA Scholar-Team award, it must have a minimum 3.0 grade-point average (on a 4.0 scale) as defined by the institution. The team grade-point average includes all eligible varsity student-athletes.
Ashford's (Iowa) men's golf squad, which finished the academic year with an NAIA-best combined 3.86 grade-point average, was selected as the Scholar-Team of the Year.
Spring Arbor's (Mich.) Division II women's basketball team (3.84) finished second, followed by Concordia's (Neb.) women's cross country program (3.83). Biola's (Calif.) women's cross country squad (3.81), finished tied for fourth place with three Oklahoma City teams -- women's cross country, women's indoor track & field and women's outdoor track & field.
For the second-straight season, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) had 19 programs honored, tying Biola (Calif.) for the most teams honored overall. Taylor (Ind.) was second with 18 recognized, while College of Idaho, Concordia (Neb.), Hastings (Neb.) and Davenport (Mich.) tied with 17 programs named, respectively. For the third-consecutive year, more than 15 percent of the schools receiving the award had a 3.5 or higher grade-point average (15.7).
Sports on 07/20/2014