2014-15 Academic All-GLVC Honorees (PDF)
INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) announced Monday that the 2014-15 season marked the first time in league history that more than 2,400 student-athletes have garnered Academic All-GLVC distinction. A total of 2,431 honorees marks the fifth-straight record season for the conference as previous bests were set in 2010-11 (1,481), 2011-12 (1,681), 2012-13 (2,002), 2013-14 (2,360).
A surge in the record numbers over the past few years has been aided by the additions of football (2012-13) and men’s and women’s swimming and diving (2013-14), as well as newcomer Truman State University (2013-14).
Not counting the 19 honorees from football associate members Lincoln University and Southwest Baptist University, the 2,412 honorees from full-time GLVC members averaged out to 151 selections per school, which also broke last season’s record average of 147. Prior to last year, the per-school averages had been 124 in 2012-13, 105 in 2011-12, 98.5 in 2010-11 and 82.8 in 2009-10.
The Academic All-GLVC honor is bestowed upon student-athletes who meet a cumulative GPA of 3.3 after two semesters at the institution.
A total of 127 student-athletes recorded a perfect 4.0 GPA during the 2014-15 academic year, 12 more than last season’s mark.
For just the third time since the conference began tracking Academic All-GLVC honorees in all sports in 1994-95, Lewis University earned the top spot with 214 honorees after ranking third with 204 last year. The Flyers, who led the league in 2004-05 and then tied with the University of Indianapolis in 2007-08, fell just shy this season of the single-school record of 224 set by UIndy in 2013-14. The Greyhounds paced the league’s totals in the 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.
Truman State University maintained its No. 2 position for the second consecutive year, garnering 207 honorees for the academic year, just one shy of its mark from 2013-14. UIndy was one back of Truman with 206 recipients, followed by McKendree University (185) and Maryville University (177) in the top five. McKendree matches its best result since 2012-13 after placing fifth last year, while Maryville earns its fourth top-five finish in the last five seasons.
In addition, a conference-record 13 institutions had over 100 Academic All-GLVC selections for the second straight season. The other schools reaching 100 honorees included Missouri S&T (174), Drury University (168), Saint Joseph’s College (162), William Jewell College (157), Bellarmine University (151), Rockhurst University (138), Quincy University (135), and the University of Southern Indiana (114).
Two schools saw significant increases from last year’s total without the increase of additional sports. Missouri S&T improved 38 honorees from 136 a year ago, while William Jewell added 34 recipients to last season’s total of 122.
McKendree led the conference by earning the most honorees in five sports each for the second consecutive season after tying for the lead with Lewis in 2013-14. The Bearcats led the league in men’s golf (9) and women’s golf (14), women’s soccer (26) and men’s tennis (8) and women’s tennis (9).
Lewis posted league-best totals in women’s cross country (16), softball (18) and volleyball (16), while Rockhurst set the standard in men’s basketball (10) and men’s golf, as did Missouri S&T in men’s cross country (19) and men’s track and field (33). Other conference leaders included Drury women’s basketball (12), Indianapolis women’s track and field (29), Saint Joseph’s baseball (31), Truman State women’s swimming (17) and William Jewell football (36).
In terms of total honorees by sport, women’s soccer regained its crown with 252 honorees compared to baseball’s runner-up total of 241. Last year baseball (251) beat out women’s soccer (247), which had previously topped the conference in 2011-12 and 2012-13. Women’s track and field came in third this season with 218 honorees, followed by men’s soccer (183) and softball (179) in the top five.
Counting indoor and outdoor track and field as one sport for each gender, 11 of the 18 sports saw a spike in its total number of recipients from the previous season. Football (168) and women’s swimming (88) posted a conference-best increase of 16 honorees from their respective 2014 totals.
Rounding out the sport totals were volleyball (156/+2 from 2014), men’s track and field (153/+14), women’s cross country (144/+7), women’s basketball (132/+3), women’s golf (93/+12), men’s cross country (82/-6), women’s tennis (79/-5), men’s golf (71/-2), men’s basketball (65/-7), men’s swimming and diving (64/+4), and men’s tennis (62/-4).
The complete list of 2014-15 Academic All-GLVC honorees can found at the link above.