PSAC Announces 2017-18 Top Team GPA Awards
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. --- A record-setting nine different Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference institutions have claimed Top Team GPA Awards for the 2017-18 academic year, announced PSAC Commissioner Steve Murray Friday afternoon.
Now in their seventh year of existence, the awards are issued across 21 sports. With nine different institutions claiming an award, it is the most in league history.
The awards, released at the conclusion of the academic year, honor the teams with the top cumulative team grade point average in each of the sponsored sports within the PSAC. The league hosts 23 championships, however, for the award purposes, indoor and outdoor track & field are counted as a single sport.
Gannon paced the league with eight teams while Seton Hill boasted four teams and Mercyhurst turned in three. GU repeated its success from the 2016-17 academic year in men’s cross country and football. Additionally, in 2017-18, the Golden Knights laid claim in the sports of men’s soccer, women’s lacrosse, women’s swimming, women’s basketball and volleyball.
SHU boasted the top GPA in baseball while earning its fifth consecutive crown in women’s cross country and women’s track and field. The Griffins captured the top GPA in women’s soccer for the third time in the last four years.
MU paced the league in women’s basketball, wrestling while repeating in women’s tennis.
Kutztown makes its second appearance on the list after the Golden Bears men’s tennis squad earned the crown for the second time in three years.
California laid claim to the crown in softball and marks the first appearance for any Vulcan team since 2013-14 (baseball and women’s soccer).
Slippery Rock’s field hockey team represents the sports’ top GPA for the seventh consecutive year.
East Stroudsburg (repeat in women’s golf), Shippensburg (men’s swimming) and IUP (men’s track and field) each had one team apiece.
MU’s women’s tennis team’s 3.921 average was the league’s highest cumulative GPA this year. Eight teams are repeat winners from 2016-17. GU’s men’s cross country and SRU’s field hockey team have now won the Top Team GPA Award in all seven years of its existence.
The sport of women’s tennis boasted the highest sport GPA of 3.449 while women’s cross country was second for the second consecutive year with a 3.412.
GU held the institution-high GPA average of 3.419. GU had 10 teams above the 3.5 threshold to lead 39 teams across the PSAC that established a 3.5 or better cumulative GPA.
Following the release of the 2017-18 cumulative GPAs, 11 league institutions recorded an increase in cumulative GPAs. Overall, the average GPA for the entire PSAC increased from 3.146 to 3.176. Since the awards began in 2011-12, the GPA for the conference has increased every year.
Listed below are the winners of each Top Team GPA Award by sport, with the team cumulative GPA also listed next to each winning team.
2017-18 Top Team GPA List
| Sport |
Team |
Team GPA |
| Baseball |
Seton Hill |
3.405 |
| Men's Basketball |
Mercyhurst |
3.289 |
| Women's Basketball |
Gannon |
3.625 |
| Men's Cross Country |
Gannon* |
3.565 |
| Women's Cross Country |
Seton Hill* |
3.792 |
| Field Hockey |
Slippery Rock* |
3.658 |
| Football |
Gannon* |
3.043 |
| Men's Golf |
Gannon |
3.553 |
| Women's Golf |
East Stroudsburg* |
3.686 |
| Men's Soccer |
Gannon |
3.428 |
| Women's Lacrosse |
Gannon |
3.521 |
| Women's Soccer |
Seton Hill* |
3.665 |
| Softball |
California |
3.682 |
| Men's Swimming |
Shippensburg |
3.132 |
| Women's Swimming |
Gannon |
3.585 |
| Men's Tennis |
Kutztown |
3.422 |
| Women's Tennis |
Mercyhurst* |
3.921 |
| Men's Track & Field |
IUP |
3.187 |
| Women's Track & Field |
Seton Hill* |
3.555 |
| Volleyball |
Gannon |
3.759 |
| Wrestling |
Mercyhurst |
3.237 |
*Indicates 2016-17 Top Team GPA Award winner in same sport