Dec. 31, 2002

Southern student-athletes excel in classroom

Twenty-four Missouri Southern student-athletes achieved perfect 4.0 GPAs in the fall 2002 semester, and, as a whole, the Lions and Lady Lions posted a GPA of 2.822 for the recently completed term.

The Lady Lion volleyball team turned in the highest GPA among all Southern athletics squads with a 3.383 GPA for the fall. The men's squad with the highest average was the soccer team, which finished with a 2.986.

The women's most improved GPA for the fall goes to the Lady Lion softball team, whose 3.372 average was an improvement of more than a half a point from its spring figure.

Men's basketball calimed the Most Improved GPA on the men's side. It finished the fall with a 2.773 average, which was up 0.422 from its mark last spring.

Southern's women's squads posted a combined 3.163 GPA this fall, while men's teams had a 2.653 average. The women's cumulative average is 3.261, while the men's is 2.797. The cumulative GPA of all Missouri Southern athletes is 2.955.

Additionally, 134 Missouri Southern student-athletes (46 percent) ended with cumulative GPAs of 3.0 or better. Eight of those are perfect 4.0 cumulative averages.

Half of Missouri Southern's sports that have championships in the fall placed in the top three at the conference level. That includes the men's cross country team, which not only captured its third straight Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association title, but also placed seventh in the nation.