Eastern New Mexico and Western New Mexico claimed the fifth annual Lone Star Conference Academic Excellence Award presented by Balfour.
ENMU captured the women’s honor, while WNMU earned the men’s award as the athletic departments with the highest collective team GPA among its teams for the 2017-18 academic year. The Greyhounds and Mustangs will each receive a cash reward and custom trophy.
“Congratulations to the Eastern New Mexico women’s and Western New Mexico men’s programs on this outstanding honor. We’re excited to reward the success of their student-athletes in the classroom as well as on the court. Thank you to Balfour for their continued support of academic excellence in the LSC," said LSC Commissioner Jay Poerner.
ENMU recorded the top team GPA in four of the nine women’s sports including basketball, cross country, and indoor and outdoor track and field with six individuals with flawless 4.0s.
WNMU boasted the top team GPA in cross country and golf with three individuals posting perfect 4.0 marks.
The award winners were determined by a point system, with points distributed according to finish by sport in those that the LSC sponsors after a conference-wide comparison of team GPA’s. The member institution with the highest team GPA in each sport was named the sport’s Academic Champion and earned five (5) points toward the overall award. Each sport’s runner-up picked up four (4) points and third-place three (3) points toward the overall award. Any program with a Team GPA of 2.00 and above earned one (1) point. Points for each member institution were totaled by gender and then divided by that institution’s number of counter programs in that gender to arrive at the comparison value.
The following are the sport academic champions:
| Men’s Sport |
Academic Champion |
GPA |
| Baseball |
Eastern New Mexico |
3.009 |
| Men’s Basketball |
Tarleton State |
3.090 |
| Men’s Cross Country |
Western New Mexico |
3.296 |
| Football |
Eastern New Mexico |
2.692 |
| Men’s Golf |
Western New Mexico |
3.500 |
| Men’s Indoor Track and Field |
West Texas A&M |
2.886 |
| Men’s Outdoor Track and Field |
West Texas A&M |
2.886 |
| Men’s Tennis |
UT Permian Basin |
3.532 |
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| Women’s Sport |
Academic Champion |
GPA |
| Women’s Basketball |
Eastern New Mexico |
3.514 |
| Women’s Cross Country |
Eastern New Mexico |
3.636 |
| Women’s Golf |
Tarleton State |
3.703 |
| Women’ Soccer |
Texas A&M-Commerce |
3.368 |
| Softball |
Tarleton State |
3.552 |
| Women’s Indoor Track and Field |
Eastern New Mexico |
3.530 |
| Women’s Outdoor Track and Field |
Eastern New Mexico |
3.531 |
| Volleyball |
Texas A&M-Commerce |
3.403 |
| Women’s Tennis |
UT Permian Basin |
3.670 |
Lone Star Conference Academic Excellence Award presented by Balfour
| Year |
Men’s Award |
Women’s Award |
| 2017-18 |
Western New Mexico |
Eastern New Mexico |
| 2016-17 |
Eastern New Mexico |
Texas Woman’s / Cameron |
| 2015-16 |
West Texas A&M |
Texas Woman’s |
| 2014-15 |
West Texas A&M |
Texas Woman’s / West Texas A&M |
| 2013-14 |
Eastern New Mexico |
Texas Woman’s |