The Collegiate Swimming Coaches’ Association of America (CSCAA) has released their semi-annual Scholar All-America Team awards for the spring semester of 2015.
The award is given to college teams that have a combined team GPA over the course of the spring semester. Nearly 70% of all NCAA Swimming & Diving teams achieved this.
“Academic scandals have clouded college sports the past year,” CSCAA director Joel Shinofeld said, “but not only did we have a record number of teams, not one of our programs is subject to APR penalties. This shows that across the board, our coaches and teams’ are serving the mission of their universities and athletic departments.”
Leading the way for the semester was the women of Eastern Illinois, who had a stunning combined GPA of 3.70 – an almost unheard-of result in collegiate athletics. The Panthers’ women also tied for the highest GPA in the fall semester with a 3.59.
Overall, the GPA’s were higher in the spring semester than they were in the fall, which is likely an effect of most athletic departments scheduling swimmers and divers’ harder classes in the fall, and easier classes in the spring, when possible, to lighten the load during the rigorous time commitments of championship season.
In the category of combined academic and athletic success, out of all teams that placed in the top 10 at last year’s NCAA Championship, the Louisville women had the highest combined GPA with a 3.50. They placed 6th at the NCAA Championship, including individual event titles from Kelsi Worrell in the 100 and 200 fly.
On the men’s side, the Stanford Cardinal took that title described above, as they had a 3.36 GPA and also placed 6th at the NCAA Championships. They were led by David Nolan, who won the men’s 200 IM and swam the fastest time in that event in history.
Both NCAA Championship teams also earned GPA’s of higher than 3.0. The Texas men posted a 3.05, while the Cal women went for a 3.29.
| Women’s Teams | Men’s Teams | |
| Division I 3.70 Eastern Illinois 3.67 Arkansas 3.61 Evansville 3.60 New Mexico 3.60 American 3.59 Northern Colorado 3.59 Ball State 3.59 Purdue 3.59 Yale 3.58 Pennsylvania State 3.58 Southern Illinois 3.58 Northern Arizona 3.57 Seattle 3.57 Xavier 3.56 Texas Christian 3.56 Alabama 3.56 Toledo 3.55 South Carolina 3.55 Dartmouth 3.55 Nebraska 3.54 Gardner-Webb 3.54 Kentucky 3.54 Wagner 3.53 Illinois State 3.53 South Dakota 3.53 Denver 3.53 Iona 3.52 Wisconsin-Green Bay 3.52 Loyola Marymount 3.52 North Dakota 3.51 Incarnate Word 3.51 Miami 3.50 Grand Canyon 3.50 Louisville 3.50 Brown 3.49 Arkansas, Little Rock 3.49 West Virginia 3.49 Boise State 3.49 North Texas 3.49 Illinois 3.49 Georgia 3.49 Cornell 3.49 Harvard 3.48 Northern Iowa 3.48 Clemson 3.47 Nebraska-Omaha 3.47 East Carolina 3.47 Georgetown 3.47 Minnesota 3.47 Siena 3.47 Rice 3.46 Southern Methodist 3.45 Florida Gulf Coast 3.45 George Washington 3.45 Sacred Heart 3.45 Marshall 3.45 UCLA 3.45 UMBC 3.44 Bucknell 3.44 Marist 3.44 Towson 3.44 Tulane 3.44 Akron 3.44 UNLV 3.43 Seton Hall 3.43 Pacific 3.42 St. Bonaventure 3.42 Wyoming 3.42 Lehigh 3.41 Youngstown State 3.41 Colorado State 3.41 Fresno State 3.41 Pittsburgh 3.41 Fairfield 3.41 Princeton 3.41 Michigan 3.41 Richmond 3.40 Bowling Green State 3.40 Nevada, Reno 3.40 Oakland 3.40 Drexel 3.40 Utah 3.39 Canisius 3.39 Rutgers 3.39 IUPUI 3.38 Florida International 3.38 New Mexico State 3.38 William and Mary 3.38 Michigan State 3.37 Miami 3.37 Ohio State 3.37 Cincinnati 3.37 Tennessee 3.37 La Salle 3.36 Western Illinois 3.36 Old Dominion 3.36 St. Louis 3.35 James Madison 3.35 Massachusetts 3.35 Stanford 3.35 Davidson 3.35 Kansas 3.35 Duke 3.34 Arizona State 3.34 Missouri 3.34 Indiana 3.34 Niagara 3.34 Vermont 3.33 Notre Dame 3.33 Providence 3.32 South Dakota State 3.32 Boston College 3.32 UNC-Asheville 3.32 Butler 3.31 Southern California 3.31 Eastern Michigan 3.31 Pepperdine 3.31 Texas A&M 3.31 Duquesne 3.31 Rider 3.30 Central Connecticut 3.30 Virginia Tech 3.30 Brigham Young 3.30 Hawaii, Manoa 3.30 Pennsylvania 3.30 Liberty 3.30 Boston 3.30 Idaho 3.30 Connecticut 3.29 Mount St. Mary’s 3.29 Missouri State 3.29 California, Berkeley 3.29 Wisconsin 3.27 Virginia 3.26 Georgia Southern 3.26 Lafayette 3.26 North Carolina State 3.26 Texas 3.25 Columbia-Barnard 3.25 Florida 3.25 Buffalo 3.25 Ohio 3.24 Iowa State 3.24 Colgate 3.23 Northeastern 3.22 Georgia Tech 3.22 San Diego 3.21 Cleveland State 3.21 Vanderbilt 3.21 Campbell 3.20 Florida State 3.19 Illinois at Chicago 3.19 Rhode Island 3.18 St. Francis 3.18 North Carolina 3.17 San Jose State 3.17 New Hampshire 3.16 Wright State 3.15 Northwestern 3.15 Iowa 3.14 Auburn 3.13 California, Davis 3.11 Houston 3.10 Manhattan 3.10 Cal Poly 3.10 Bryant 3.05 U.S. Air Force Academy 3.04 Washington State 3.04 Florida Atlantic 3.03 Oregon State 3.02 CSU-Bakersfield 3.02 San Diego State |
Division I 3.57 Yale 3.57 Harvard 3.50 Southern Illinois 3.45 Davidson 3.44 Xavier 3.44 Missouri State 3.42 Dartmouth 3.42 Southern Methodist 3.41 St. Louis 3.40 Miami 3.39 Denver 3.38 South Carolina 3.38 Gardner-Webb 3.38 Eastern Michigan 3.37 American 3.37 Grand Canyon 3.36 Drexel 3.36 Stanford 3.34 Brown 3.34 Wyoming 3.30 Georgetown 3.29 Duke 3.28 Eastern Illinois 3.27 Princeton 3.27 Pennsylvania 3.26 Michigan State 3.26 Colgate 3.25 Utah 3.24 Michigan 3.24 Canisius 3.24 Brigham Young 3.23 Fairfield 3.23 Western Illinois 3.23 Illinois at Chicago 3.22 Incarnate Word 3.22 Oakland 3.20 Lafayette 3.19 Wisconsin-Green Bay 3.19 Tennessee 3.19 Columbia-Barnard 3.18 Seattle 3.18 Pittsburgh 3.18 Virginia Tech 3.18 Georgia Tech 3.17 Evansville 3.17 Providence 3.17 Boston College 3.17 Iowa 3.16 Minnesota 3.16 Arizona State 3.16 Northwestern 3.15 Buffalo 3.14 Lehigh 3.14 Indiana 3.13 Alabama 3.13 Cornell 3.13 Missouri 3.13 Rider 3.13 Hawaii, Manoa 3.12 Georgia 3.12 IUPUI 3.11 Cincinnati 3.11 Niagara 3.11 North Carolina State 3.10 North Dakota 3.10 Seton Hall 3.10 William and Mary 3.10 Southern California 3.10 NJIT 3.09 Texas Christian 3.09 South Dakota State 3.09 North Carolina 3.09 Auburn 3.08 Pennsylvania State 3.08 Pacific 3.08 Notre Dame 3.08 Manhattan 3.07 Boston 3.07 Virginia 3.06 Kentucky 3.06 UNLV 3.06 Cleveland State 3.06 Florida State 3.05 Ohio State 3.05 Texas 3.04 Iona 3.03 Ball State 3.03 St. Bonaventure 3.02 South Dakota 3.00 George Washington 3.00 Florida International 3 |
“athletic departments scheduling swimmers’ and divers’ classes” ?? – kudos to the Yale swimmers and divers, both men and women, who achieved such high GPAs without any concessions from their athletic deparments and no special treatment on the academic side; they truly epitomize “student athletes”.
Yale’s grade inflation is, in many ways, as bad as Harvard’s. You can search for data on it.
Congrats to Yale men’s team, but we should keep in mind its institutional grading policies.
Only three PAC 12 men’s teams made the list; Stanford, Utah, and ASU. Seriously? The others need to get their act together. Come on!