Somerset, N.J. -  The Saint Francis men's and women's tennis programs and the Saint Francis women's cross country program were awarded with Team GPA Awards by the Northeast Conference on Wednesday.

As a department, Saint Francis Athletics student-athletes combined to record a 3.482 cumulative gpa, the highest in school history. SFU narrowly missed out on its fifth Institutional Academic Award, finishing behind LIU's department gpa of 3.488.

"First, I want to congratulate all the NEC institutions on an amazing year in the classroom and I want to especially congratulate LIU on winning this year's Institutional Academic Award," said John Krimmel, Associate Director of Athletics for Student-Athlete and Leadership Development. "I could not be more proud of the work our student-athletes did this year in the classroom.  The fall 2019 semester was the best fall semester on record and then to top it off our student-athletes achieved the highest department GPA ever during the spring 2020 semester.  The spring 2020 semester was a challenging one to say the least and our student-athletes rose to the occasion demonstrating again what it means to be a STUDENT-athlete.  We would be remiss if we did not recognize the amazing work our faculty did for our students throughout the year and especially during the difficult transition in March to virtual learning.  Also, special thanks to our coaches, staff, the Center for Academic Success team, and so many more who were there for our students during the course of the year. We look forward to setting more records in the coming academic year and continuing the tradition of academic excellence at Saint Francis."  

The women's tennis program led all NEC women's tennis programs with a with a 3.89 cumulative gpa, second among all programs in the entire league. Only Robert Morris women's volleyball (3.94) recorded a higher gpa.

The men's tennis program was just as impressive, combining for a 3.68 cumulative gpa, best among all NEC men's tennis programs.

"I am so proud of our women's team for maintaining their tradition of academic excellence," said head women's and men's tennis coach Lisa Swope. "Our team knows how important it is to succeed off the court as well as on the court and they make their academics a priority."

"It was a bold statement for our men to earn this award in their return as a program," Swope continued. "To come together as a team and make a commitment to academic excellence in year one is very impressive."

Women's cross country rounded out all winners with a 3.69 team gpa. The award added to the rich history of academic success in the program. The women's cross country team previously won the award in 2017-18.

"Our women's cross country team has established an incredible tradition of academic and athletic excellence," said head cross country and track and field coach Doug Hoover. "I could not be prouder of each of these women. They are the epitome of student-athletes and are walking examples of how to balance academics and athletics. It's not easy to uphold the standard they set day in and day out, but they accept the challenge and rise to it every day."

Women's cross country has recorded a team gpa over 3.50 in 15 consecutive semesters, 13 of which ended with a gpa over 3.60. Over the span they have finished in the top three in the NEC Championships five times, claiming the league title in 2016. Additionally, the group has received the NCAA APR Public Recognition Award in each of the last three years.

Saint Francis improved upon its total of Team GPA Award winners, going from one in 2018-19 to three in 2019-20

It was a record-setting year for NEC student-athletes, combining for a record 3.404 overall gpa, smashing the previous record of 3.281 in 2017-18. A record 91.9 percent of NEC teams (194-of-211) finished with a 3.0 GPA or higher and 100 percent of NEC women's teams (120-of-120) finished with a 3.0 GPA or higher.

Nineteen of SFU's 21 programs recorded a team gpa above 3.0 for the academic year.