Student-athletes earn top Grade Point Average, service awards

For the third consecutive year, Newman student-athletes achieved the highest combined Grade Point Average (GPA) among all Heartland Conference athletics programs. For the 2008-2009 academic year, student-athletes had a combined overall GPA of 3.30 – up slightly from the 3.22 score which brought Newman the top spot for both the 2007-2008 and 2006-2007 academic years.

In addition, Newman claimed the top spot for the second consecutive year in the combined women’s program category with a 3.46 GPA. The university also took top honors in the combined men’s program category with a 3.15 GPA. Newman recorded the highest team GPA in women’s basketball (3.32) for the third consecutive year, while softball (3.48) and men’s tennis (3.69) programs also led the conference.

“Newman University places a high priority on academic performance as well as athletic performance, and I am very proud to see that our student-athletes, faculty, and staff honor our commitment to excellence in the classroom,” said Athletics Director Vic Trilli.

The Newman Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) also won the Fall 2008 Heartland Conference Award for Community Engagement. The award is a program of the NCAA Division II that selects one school from each conference that exhibits outstanding community engagement.