Wednesday, August 1, 2012

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Northwest Nazarene, Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings all won Great Northwest Athletic Conference Academic All-Sports titles during the 2011-12 school year.

Northwest Nazarene won the overall championship for the fourth time in the past five years, while Seattle Pacific won its fifth straight men’s academic title.  Montana State Billings claimed the women’s overall title for the first time.

Northwest Nazarene edged Seattle Pacific 146-144 for the overall title. Saint Martin’s finished third with 128 points, five ahead of fourth-place MSU Billings.  Seattle Pacific outpointed both Northwest Nazarene and Saint Martin’s 70-64 for the men’s title, while, MSUB outscored Northwest Nazarene 85-82 for the women’s title.

Seattle Pacific won the most team titles earning the best team GPAs in five sports including men’s cross country (3.34), men’s soccer (3.28), men’s basketball (3.19), men’s track and field (3.15) and volleyball (3.47).  The Falcon volleyball team was the only team to win a conference championship and also finish with the highest team GPA.

Northwest Nazarene had the highest team GPA in three sports – baseball (3.00), men’s golf (3.01) and women’s track and field (3.39). 

MSUB and Saint Martin’s each won two team academic titles.  The Yellowjackets had the highest GPAs in women’s soccer  (3.48) and women’s basketball (3.57), while Saint Martin’s had the highest GPAs in softball (3.33) and golf (3.49).

Central Washington and Alaska Fairbanks each won one GNAC academic team title.  The Wildcats led the way in football (2.65) and Alaska Fairbanks posted the highest team GPA in women’s cross country (3.61).

Sixty-six of the conference’s 108 teams (61.1 percent) posted cumulative GPAs of 3.00 or better, including all 10 women’s cross country and volleyball teams and eight of the nine women’s track and field squads.  In all 48 of the GNAC’s 58 women’s teams (82.7  percent) had cumulative GPAs of at least 3.00.

The Academic all-sports standings are based on the cumulative grade point averages of all the athletes on the official team rosters including redshirts.  Points are awarded on two-point increments.

Overall (Top 5) – 1. Northwest Nazarene 146, 2. Seattle Pacific 144, 3. Saint Martin’s 128, 4. Montana State Billings 123, 5. Central Washington 110.  Men (Top 5) – 1. Seattle Pacific 70, 2. Northwest Nazarene and Saint Martin’s 64, 4. Central Washington 46, 5. Alaska Anchorage 42.  Women (Top 5) – 1. Montana State Billings 85, 2. Northwest Nazarene 82, 3. Seattle Pacific 74, 4. Central Washington 70, 5. Western Oregon 65.

Men (Top 3):    Cross Country – 1. Seattle Pacific 3.34, 2. Alaska Fairbanks 3.29, 3. Alaska Anchorage 3.28.  Soccer – 1. Seattle Pacific 3.28, 2. Saint Martin’s 3.10, 3. MSU Billings 2.94.  Basketball – 1. Seattle Pacific 3.19, 2, Saint Martin’s 3.16, 3. Northwest Nazarene 2.92. Baseball – 1. Northwest Nazarene 3.00, 2. Central Washington 2.97, 3. Saint Martin’s 2.80.  Track-and-Field – 1. Seattle Pacific 3.15, 2. Northwest Nazarene 3.12, 3. Alaska Anchorage 3.08.  Golf – Northwest Nazarene 3.01, 2. MSU Billings 2.94, 3. Saint Martin’s 2.88.   Football – 1. Central Washington 2.65, 2. Dixie State 2.60, 3. Humboldt State 2.58.

Women (Top 3): Volleyball – 1. Seattle Pacific 3.47, 2. Saint Martin’s 3.35, 3. Northwest Nazarene 3.32.  Cross Country – 1. Alaska Fairbanks 3.61, 2. Seattle Pacific 3.50, 3. MSU Billings 3.49.   Soccer – 1. MSU Billings 3.48, 2. Northwest Nazarene 3.46, 3. Western Oregon 3.37.Basketball – 1. MSU Billings 3.47, 2. Central Washington 3.40, 3. Seattle Pacific 3.39.  Softball – 1. Saint Martin’s 3.33, 2. MSU Billings 3.11, 3. Northwest Nazarene 3.05.  Track and Field – 1.   Northwest Nazarene 3.39; 2. Western Oregon 3.35;  3. Central Washington 3.33.  Golf – 1. Saint Martin’s 3.49; 2. MSU Billings 3.43; 3. Western Washington 3.21.