Tuesday, July 24, 2018

PORTLAND, Ore. – In an impressive academic effect that saw six of its teams lead the conference in cumulative grade point average, Northwest Nazarene has won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s Academic All-Sports Championship for the third time in four years.

The Nighthawks finished with 189 points in the annual survey of cumulative grade point averages for each school’s GNAC program. Concordia, the 2016-17 GNAC Academic All-Sports Champion, finished second with 171 points while Saint Martin’s finished third with 145 points.

Northwest Nazarene also won its second consecutive women's Academic All-Sports Championship with a score of 112 points. Concordia finsihed second with 92 points and Seattle Pacific placed third with 81 points,

In a close competition, Concordia succeeded in claiming its second straight men's Academic All-Sports championship with 81 points. Northwest Nazarene was second with 77 points and Saint Martin's placed third with 72 points.

Of the 13 conference programs Northwest Nazarene sponsors, it finished in the top-three of the academic standings in all but three of them. The Nighthawks took top honors among men’s programs in baseball (3.12), golf (3.52) and track and field (3.17). The NNU women’s soccer program had the highest GPA of any GNAC team (3.75) while the women’s track and field team also took top honors (3.59).

Central Washington saw four of its programs claim top GPA honors. The Wildcats led the league in men’s cross country (3.58), women’s softball (3.44) and volleyball (3.64) and shared the top men’s track and field GPA (3.17) with Northwest Nazarene.

Seattle Pacific took top academic honors in men’s basketball (3.46), men's soccer (3.34) and women’s cross country (3.66). It is the ninth consecutive year that the SPU men's soccer team had led the league and the eighth consecutive year that the Falcons have led the conference’s men’s basketball programs.

Saint Martin’s reclaimed its top spot in women’s golf (3.46) while Western Oregon was the champion in women’s basketball (3.53) for the third consecutive season. Azusa Pacific repeated as the football academic champion (2.89) for the seventh consecutive season.

Ninety-four of the conference’s 122 teams (77 percent) posted cumulative GPAs of 3.00 or better, including every team in men’s and women’s soccer, women’s cross country and women’s track and field. All but five of the GNAC’s 66 women’s programs (92.4 percent) finished with a 3.00 GPA or better. Northwest Nazarene, Saint Martin’s and Seattle Pacific saw all of its programs finish with GPAs above the 3.00 threshold.

The GNAC’s Academic All-Sports standings are based on the cumulative grade point averages of all of the athletes on the official team roster, including redshirts. Points are awarded in two-point increments.

GNAC 2017-18 ACADEMIC ALL-SPORTS STANDINGS
Overall (Top 5): 1, Northwest Nazarene 189. 2, Concordia 173. 3, Saint Martin’s 147. 4, Seattle Pacific 143. 5, Central Washington 138.
Men (Top 5): 1, Concordia 81. 2, Northwest Nazarene, 77, 3, Saint Martin’s 72. 4, Seattle Pacific 62. 5, Central Washington 59.
Women (Top 5): 1, Northwest Nazarene 112. 2, Concordia 92. 3, Seattle Pacific 81. 4, Central Washington 79. 5, Montana State Billings 77.

MEN’S TOP-THREE TEAMS BY SPORT
Baseball: 1, Northwest Nazarene 3.12. 2, Saint Martin’s 3.09. 3, Central Washington 3.00.
Basketball: 1, Seattle Pacific 3.46. 2, Concordia 3.15 & Northwest Nazarene 3.15.
Cross Country: 1, Central Washington 3.58. 2, Concordia, 3.31. 3, Saint Martin’s 3.28.
Football: 1, Azusa Pacific 2.89. 2, Western Oregon 2.81. 3, Central Washington 2.67.
Golf: 1, Northwest Nazarene 3.52. 2, Saint Martin’s 3.40. 3, Concordia 3.23.
Soccer: 1, Seattle Pacific 3.34. 2, Concordia 3.19. 3, Western Washington, 3.13.
Track and Field: 1, Central Washington 3.17 & Northwest Nazarene 3.17. 3, Concordia 3.12.

WOMEN TOP-THREE TEAMS BY SPORT
Basketball: 1, Western Oregon 3.53. 2, Seattle Pacific 3.52. 3, Concordia 3.51.
Cross Country: 1, Seattle Pacific 3.66. 2, Concordia 3.63. 3, Northwest Nazarene 3.41 & Western Washington 3.41.
Golf: 1, Saint Martin’s 3.46. 2, Montana State Billings 3.37. 3, Northwest Nazarene 3.31.
Soccer: 1, Northwest Nazarene 3.75. 2, Montana State Billings 3.63. 3, Central Washington 3.62.
Softball: 1, Central Washington 3.44. 2, Northwest Nazarene 3.35 & Saint Martin’s 3.35.
Track and Field: 1, Northwest Nazarene 3.59. 2, Concordia 3.50. 3, Seattle Pacific 3.41.
Volleyball: 1, Central Washington 3.64. 2, Northwest Nazarene 3.60. 3, Concordia 3.55.