Friday, July 9, 2021

PORTLAND, Ore. – For the first time in conference history, Central Washington University has won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Academic All-Sports Championship, presented by Barnes & Noble College.

The Wildcats compiled a score of 156 points in the annual survey of the cumulative grade point averages for each institution’s GNAC program. Central Washington posted the top GPA in six different sports and was among the top-three in all but two sports. Northwest Nazarene placed second with 142 points and Seattle Pacific was third with 136 points.

In addition to winning the overall award, Central Washington also won its first Men’s Academic All-Sports Championship with a total of 70 points. The Wildcats had the top GPA in baseball (3.32), basketball (3.45) and football (3.26) and was second place in cross country (3.54) and track and field (3.32). Northwest Nazarene finished second with 61 points and Saint Martin’s finished third with 54 points.

Seattle Pacific won the Women’s Academic All-Sports Championship for the first time since 2016 and the third time in program history with 90 points. The Falcons had the top GPA in three sports, placed by the incredibly impressive 3.90 GPA of the cross country team. It is the fourth year in a row that SPU has won the women’s cross country title, the longest active team among conference teams.

The Seattle Pacific rowing (3.51) and track and field (3.60) programs won titles in addition to a second-place finish for the basketball team (3.60) and a third-place finish for the volleyball team (3.75).

Central Washington was second in the women’s standings with 86 points and Northwest Nazarene was third with 81 points.

One of four institutions that saw all its programs finish with 3.00 GPAs or higher, Central Washington established an impressive standard with all of its programs finishing with no lower than a 3.26 GPA. Northwest Nazarene, Saint Martin’s and Seattle Pacific also saw all of its teams finish with GPAs above 3.00.

In addition to its three top men’s GPAs, Central Washington led the way on the women’s side in basketball (3.66), softball (3.79) and volleyball (3.82). Northwest Nazarene joined Seattle Pacific with three team titles, claiming the top GPA in men’s golf (3.57), men’s soccer (3.56) and women’s soccer (3.61). Alaska Anchorage earned the men’s track and field championship (3.36), Alaska topped men’s cross country teams (3.66) and Saint Martin’s won the title in women’s golf (3.66).

Ninety-nine of the conference’s 111 teams (89.1 percent) finished with GPAs of 3.00 or higher. The total includes all but three women’s programs. The conference saw eight of its 17 championship sports finish with all teams amassing a 3.00 GPA or higher: men’s cross county, men’s golf, men’s soccer, women’s basketball, women’s golf, women’s rowing, softball and volleyball.

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

GNAC ACADEMIC ALL-SPORTS AWARDS 2020-21
Presented By Barnes & Noble College
Overall Top-Five: Central Washington 156, Northwest Nazarene 142, Seattle Pacific 136, Western Washington 126, Saint Martin’s 124.
Men’s Top-Five: Central Washington 70, Northwest Nazarene 61, Saint Martin’s 54, Western Washington 48, Alaska Anchorage & Seattle Pacific 46.
Women’s Top-Five: Seattle Pacific 90, Central Washington 86, Northwest Nazarene 81, Western Washington 78, Saint Martin’s 70.

MEN’S TOP-THREE TEAMS BY SPORT
Baseball: 1, Central Washington 3.29. 2, Saint Martin’s 3.27. 3, Northwest Nazarene, 3.25.
Basketball: 1, Central Washington, 3.45. 2, Alaska Anchorage, 3.34. 3, Saint Martin’s, 3.18.
Cross Country: 1, Alaska, 3.66. 2, Central Washington, 3.54. 3, Western Washington, 3.29.
Football: 1, Central Washington, 3.26. 2, Western Oregon, 2.82. 3, Simon Fraser, 2.73.
Golf: 1, Northwest Nazarene, 3.57. 2, Western Washington, 3.21. 3, Simon Fraser, 3.16.
Soccer: 1, Northwest Nazarene, 3.56. 2, Montana State Billings & Western Washington, 3.48.
Track and Field: 1, Alaska Anchorage, 3.36. 2, Central Washington, 3.32. 3, Seattle Pacific, 3.19.

WOMEN’S TOP-THREE TEAMS BY SPORT
Basketball: 1, Central Washington, 3.66. 2, Seattle Pacific, 3.60. 3, Montana State Billings, 3.49.
Cross Country: 1, Seattle Pacific, 3.90. 2, Alaska, 3.74. 3, Northwest Nazarene, 3.60.
Golf: 1, Saint Martin’s, 3.66. 2, Montana State Billings, 3.55. 3, Northwest Nazarene, 3.43.
Rowing: 1, Seattle Pacific, 3.51. 2, Humboldt State, 3.44. 3, Western Washington, 3.42.
Soccer: 1, Northwest Nazarene, 3.61. 2, Western Washington, 3.59. 3, Central Washington, 3.56.
Softball: 1, Central Washington, 3.79. 2, Western Washington, 3.66. 3, Northwest Nazarene, 3.46.
Track and Field: 1, Seattle Pacific, 3.60. 2, Northwest Nazarene, 3.55. 3, Western Washington, 3.47.
Volleyball: 1, Central Washington, 3.82. 2, Alaska, 3.79. 3, Seattle Pacific, 3.75.