CWU recognized
IAN BIVONA | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 4 months AGO
Central Washington men’s basketball finished with a team grade point average of 3.42, one of four Wildcat sports to finish with a Great Northwest Athletic Conference-high GPA.
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Ian Bivona serves as the Columbia Basin Herald’s sports reporter and is a graduate of Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. He enjoys the behind-the-scenes stories that lead up to the wins and losses of the various sports teams in the Basin. Football is his favorite sport, though he likes them all, and his favorite team is the Jets. He lives in Soap Lake with his cat, Honey. | July 17, 2023 3:32 PM
PORTLAND, Ore. — For the third straight year Central Washington University has won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s Academic All-Sports title, the conference announced in a release Friday.
Central finished with 129 points, followed by Seattle Pacific University with 127. Rounding out the top five were Saint Martin’s University (123), Northwest Nazarene University (121) and Western Oregon University (116). Points for the Academic All-Sports award were based on cumulative grade point averages for all the student-athletes on a team’s roster, given in two-point increments.
This is the third time a school has three-peated in the GNAC Academic All-Sports award, with Seattle Pacific (2003-2006) and Northwest Nazarene (2007-2010) having previously accomplished the feat.
The Wildcats’ 58 points were the most among the men’s sports, and Central’s 71 points were the third-most in women’s sports. Central had the highest GPA in the following sports: men’s basketball, men’s cross country, women’s basketball and softball. Top-three finishes were also seen in baseball (second) and volleyball (second).
94.2% of teams in the GNAC finished with a GPA higher than 3.0. Each team in GNAC baseball, men’s golf, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s rowing, women’s indoor and outdoor track and field and volleyball had teams finish above a 3.0 GPA.