Lubbock Christian University and St. Mary’s University claimed the ninth annual Lone Star Conference Academic Excellence Award presented by Balfour.
LCU earned the women’s honor for the first time, while StMU captured its initial men’s award as the athletic departments with the highest collective team GPA among its teams for the 2021-22 academic year. The Lady Chaps and Rattlers will each receive a cash reward and custom trophy.
“This prestigious award was established to showcase the league’s commitment to academic excellence. This year we are thrilled to honor Lubbock Christian and St. Mary’s for the outstanding academic success of their student-athletes," said LSC Commissioner Jay Poerner. “Thank you to Balfour for their continued support of this important award.”
Dallas Baptist University (indoor and outdoor track and field), LCU (soccer and volleyball), and StMU (golf and tennis) each had two women’s teams with the highest GPA.
On the men’s side, LCU (basketball and indoor track and field) and The University of Texas at Tyler (soccer and tennis) both had two squads at the top.
Western New Mexico University women’s cross country was the sport academic champion for the third straight year, while Eastern New Mexico University football, StMU women’s golf, and UTT men’s soccer defended their academic crowns.
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 GPAs. 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 |
St. Mary’s |
3.328 |
| Men’s Basketball |
Lubbock Christian |
3.522 |
| Men’s Cross Country |
Oklahoma Christian |
3.515 |
| Football |
Eastern New Mexico |
2.696 |
| Men’s Golf |
Western New Mexico |
3.568 |
| Men’s Indoor Track and Field |
Lubbock Christian |
3.1 |
| Men’s Outdoor Track and Field |
St. Edward’s |
3.23 |
| Men’s Soccer |
UT Tyler |
3.445 |
| Men’s Tennis |
UT Tyler |
3.813 |
|
|
|
| Women’s Sport |
Academic Champion |
GPA |
| Women’s Basketball |
Cameron |
3.808 |
| Women’s Cross Country |
Western New Mexico |
3.679 |
| Women’s Golf |
St. Mary’s |
3.871 |
| Women’s Soccer |
Lubbock Christian |
3.757 |
| Softball |
UT Tyler |
3.668 |
| Volleyball |
Lubbock Christian |
3.76 |
| Women’s Indoor Track and Field |
DBU |
3.463 |
| Women’s Outdoor Track and Field |
DBU |
3.463 |
| Women’s Tennis |
St. Mary’s |
3.764 |
Lone Star Conference Academic Excellence Award presented by Balfour
| Year |
Men’s Award |
Women’s Award |
| 2021-22 |
St. Mary’s |
Lubbock Christian |
| 2020-21 |
UT Tyler |
UT Tyler |
| 2019-20 |
Lubbock Christian |
St. Mary’s |
| 2018-19 |
Cameron |
Texas Woman’s |
| 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 |