The Lone Star Conference announced their Academic Excellence Awards and Individual Sport Academic Champions List. Topping the latter list with three individual men’s sports champions were the Mustangs of Western New Mexico University. The Mustangs earned top GPAs in football (2.780), men’s outdoor track and field (3.356) and men’s golf (3.815).
“Achieving top GPAs across multiple sports is a testament to our student-athletes’ commitment to excellence both on and off the field.” said Executive Director of Athletics, Scott Noble. “Our student-athletes taking advantage of resources, such as academic advising, tutoring, and study facilities, allow them to thrive academically and demonstrates that academic success and athletic excellence are not mutually exclusive, but rather, they complement and reinforce each other.”
“Additionally, our coaches’ dedication to recruiting individuals who embody the values of our university has been crucial. They seek out student-athletes who not only excel in their sport but also prioritize their education,” Noble added.
The overall award winners were determined by a point system, with points distributed according to finish after a conference-wide comparison of team GPAs. The member institution with the highest team GPA in each sport was named the Sport Academic Champion and earned five (5) points toward the overall award. The runner-up in each sport picked up four (4) points and third-place three (3) points toward the overall award. Any program with a Team GPA of 2.00 and above earned one (1) point. Points for each member institution were totaled by gender and then divided by that institution’s number of programs in that gender to arrive at the comparison value. St. Mary’s University and Texas Woman’s University claimed the overall awards.
The strong performance of Mustang Athletics shows that WNMU student-athletes are achieving the balance needed to excel both in the classroom and on the court, field or course.