Tuesday, July 19, 2016

PORTLAND, Ore. – For the second year in a row and the sixth time in program history, Northwest Nazarene is the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s academic all-sports champion.

The Crusaders compiled a total of 182 points in the annual survey of cumulative grade point averages for each school’s GNAC program. Seattle Pacific finished second for the second consecutive year with 163 points while Saint Martin’s was a close third at 161. Northwest Nazarene became the first school to repeat as academic all-sports champion since the Crusaders won three titles in a row between 2008 and 2010.

Northwest Nazarene also won their fourth straight men’s academic all-sports title with a total of 91 points. Saint Martin’s finished second with 72 points while Seattle Pacific was third with 68 points. The Falcons claimed their first women’s academic all-sports championship since 2005-06 with a total of 95 points. Northwest Nazarene, last year’s champion, placed second 91 points with Central Washington one point behind in third with 90.

The Crusaders claimed the overall title with the top team GPA in three sports and top-three GPAs by seven of their 13 GNAC teams. They boasted the top GPA in men’s cross country (3.39) men’s track and field (3.18) and women’s track and field (3.49) and the second-best GPA in men’s basketball, men’s golf, men’s soccer and women’s volleyball.

Once again, Seattle Pacific had the top GPA in five sports with the women’s cross country team leading the GNAC with their 3.73 GPA. The Falcons were also the academic top-birds in men’s basketball for the sixth consecutive year (3.47) and for the seventh consecutive year in men’s soccer (3.51). Seattle Pacific also earned top GPAs in women’s soccer (3.50) and women’s track and field (3.49). The men’s soccer and women’s track and field teams were the only two squads to win both a GNAC championship and lead the league academically.

Saint Martin’s finished the top GPA in softball (3.43) for the sixth consecutive year and in men’s golf (3.45) for the fourth consecutive season. Montana State Billings’ baseball team (3.28) repeated for the third consecutive year while the women’s golf team (3.64) topped the chart for the third time in four years. Azusa Pacific repeated with the top football GPA (2.98) for the fourth consecutive year. Central Washington had the top team GPA in volleyball (3.53) and Western Oregon was tops in women’s basketball (3.56.).

Ninety-three of the conference’s 125 teams (74.4 percent) posted cumulative GPAs of 3.00 or betterm including all 11 women’s cross country teams and all programs in women’s gold, women’s soccer and women’s track and field. Amongest all women’s teams, 62 or 65 (95.3 percent) finished with a 3.00 GPA or better.

Seattle Pacific had all nine of their GNAC teams finished with GPAs or 3.00 or better. Northwest Nazarene finished with 12 of 13 teams with a 3.00 or better while Concordia, Montana State Billings and Saint Martin’s each finished with 11.

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

GNAC 2015-16 ACADEMIC ALL-SPORTS STANDINGS
Overall (Top 5): 1, Northwest Nazarene 182. 2, Seattle Pacific 163. 3, Saint Martin’s 161. 4, Central Washington 142. 5, Concordia 116.

Men (Top 5): 1, Northwest Nazarene 91. 2, Saint Martin’s 72. 3, Seattle Pacific 68. 4, Concordia 60. 5, Central Washington 52.

Women (Top 5): 1, Seattle Pacific 95. 2, Northwest Nazarene 91. 3, Central Washington 90. 4, Saint Martin’s 89. 5, Western Oregon 70.

MEN’S TOP-THREE TEAMS BY SPORT
Baseball: 1, Montana State Billings 3.28. 2, Concordia 3.18. 3, Saint Martin’s 3.14.
Basketball: 1, Seattle Pacific 3,47. 2, Alaska Anchorage & Northwest Nazarene 3.06.
Cross Country: 1, Northwest Nazarene 3.39. 2, Alaska 3.25. 3, Central Washington, Concordia & Saint Martin’s 3.16.
Football: 1, Azusa Pacific 2.98. 2, South Dakota Mines 2.76. 3, Central Washington 2.76.
Golf: 1, Saint Martin’s 3.45. 2, Northwest Nazarene 3.30. 3, Concordia 3.19.
Soccer: 1, Seattle Pacific 3.51. 2, Northwest Nazarene 3.08. 3, Saint Martin’s 3.07.
Track and Field: 1, Northwest Nazarene 3.18. 2, Seattle Pacific 3.16. 3, Alaska Anchorage 3.09.

WOMEN TOP-THREE TEAMS BY SPORT
Basketball: 1, Western Oregon 3.56. 2, Seattle Pacific 3.54. 3, Montana State Billings 3.49.
Cross Country: 1, Seattle Pacific 3.73. 2, Central Washington 3.60. 3, Western Washington 3.59.
Golf: 1, Montana State Billings 3.64. 2, Saint Martin’s 3.54. 3, Concordia 3.42.
Soccer: 1, Seattle Pacific 3.50. 2, Saint Martin’s 3.47. 3, Western Oregon 3.46.
Softball: 1, Saint Martin’s 3.43. 2, Central Washington 3.30. 3, Concordia 3.28.
Track and Field: 1, Northwest Nazarene & Seattle Pacific 3.49. 3, Central Washington 3.39.
Volleyball: 1, Central Washington 3.53. 2, Northwest Nazarene 3.42. 3, Concordia 3.41.