JBU students earns 91 slots on Commissioner's Honor Roll

For the second time in Sooner Athletic Conference history, the league has announced a conference-wide Commissioner's Honor Roll, and John Brown University boasts the fourth-most total honorees with 91, league offices announced June 8.

To be eligible for the Commissioner's Honor Roll, student-athletes must maintain a minimum 3.00 GPA during the previous academic year.

"I am so proud of our student-athletes and their commitment to excellence in the classroom," said Robyn Daugherty, director of athletics. "In a world where athletic performance overshadows academic achievement, it is exciting to me to see 50 percent of our student-athletes at a 3.00 or higher, especially at an institution where academics are very challenging."

With 91 honorees, JBU boasts the fourth-highest number of student-athletes honored. Texas Wesleyan led all conference institutions with 120 winners while Southwestern Christian (Okla.) landed 106 and Oklahoma City finished third with 104.

Increasing its total by one this year, the men's soccer team boasted a JBU-best 15 honorees, which finished tied for second-most among SAC men's soccer programs. Joining the men's soccer team with double-digit award winners was women's soccer (14), men's cross country (11) and volleyball (11). Men's cross country experienced the most growth of any Golden Eagle program, improving by four from last year's seven winners. Men's basketball finished the season with seven honorees, three more than last season, while men's golf (five), men's tennis (six), women's basketball (eight) and volleyball each added two more than last season.

Additionally, women's cross country posted nine honorees while women's tennis contributed five to JBU's total.

The awards are presented by Cypress Risk Management, an Omaha, Neb., based insurance agency that specializes in providing customized solutions for collegiate student health and athletic accident insurance. The organization currently insures more than 500,000 students nationwide and is already engaged with several other NAIA conferences in similar partnerships. Cypress Risk Management's partnership with the SAC gives it exclusive sponsorship to the newly-founded awards program that covers the 13 men's and women's NAIA-sanctioned sports the conference offers.