The Scholar Team of the Year and All-Academic Teams for the 2022 NCAA Division II Men’s Track & Field seasons were announced on Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The Kentucky Wesleyan College men’s track and field/cross country team were among the nation’s best this season in the classroom.
The Panthers finished the academic year with a 3.193 team GPA to rank inside the top-60 in the USTFCCCA’s national list. This honor comes as the first in program history and first-year head coach Sol Stephens. Wesleyan is among eight Great Midwest Athletic Conference Teams to make the annual list. The Panthers’ GPA ranked fourth overall in the G-MAC this season. Californian State East Bay held the nation’s highest GPA with a 3.64. Grand Valley State was named the NCAA Division II Men’s Indoor Track & Field National Scholar Team of the Year, while Pittsburg State was named the NCAA Division II Men’s Outdoor Track & Field National Scholar Team of the Year.
“This is another first for the program in school history,” said Head Coach Sol Stephens. “We got off to a rocky start learning the academic expectations of the staff but we had a team meeting when we set our goals and this one came to fruition. We surpassed the initial point of focus but the guys put in the work and they are history makers now. They were challenged to improve academically and conquered the mission. This is the foundation of which we will pride ourselves within the program for our standards will raise due to our core belief system. Being great as a student and an athlete is the expectation. #Proverbs 27:17”
More than 100 teams were honored by the USTFCCCA on Wednesday.
Here is the criteria for a team be named an NCAA Division II All-Academic Team:
- The cumulative GPA (not 2021-22 academic year, not semester) for all student-athletes on the institution’s NCAA Squad List for Indoor and/or Outdoor Track and Field must be 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale, certifiable by the institution’s registrar. Institutions utilizing a different GPA scale must convert the GPA to a 4.0 scale using the standard conversion method [GPA/Scale x 4.0].
- Transfer students and/or graduate students are to include only grades earned at the current nominating institution.
- The cumulative GPA of all student-athletes on the institution’s NCAA Squad List for Indoor and/or Outdoor Track and Field must be computed by the following method:
- Total the cumulative number of semester hours or quarter hours earned for all student-athletes on the NCAA Squad List including the most recent grading period;
- Total the cumulative number of quality points (GPA multiplied by the number of credit hours) earned by all student-athletes including the most recent grading period;
- Divide the cumulative number of quality points earned by the cumulative number of semester or quarter hours earned.
