"Student" Not Forgotten In Student-Athlete
Sam Tikka
Issue date: 5/6/09 Section: Sports
When you are not staying busy competing in athletics or maintaining a part time job, you are more apt to get lazy and put off homework and study time because of lack of motivation. When you have to focus on doing your homework and studying ahead of time due to athletic competition, you are in essence a better student because of your athletics.
Graybill feels this is true and has proven very crucial to maintaining her 3.62 GPA. "My freshman and sophomore year I did not do cross-country in the fall semester so I had a lot of free time. Without a fall sport I found a lot of distractions and never got the grades I would achieve in the winter and spring semester while competing in track. Athletics forced me to focus more on everything and really helped me as much in the classroom as it did on the track."
St. Norbert College has had many athletes and teams in the 2008-09 seasons achieve all-academic excellence in their respected sport. The United States Track and Cross Country Coaches Association named the women's cross-country team of 2008 an All-Academic team. They excelled on and off the course by maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.44. Besides this national recognition, between the Midwest Conference (MWC) and National Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) conference, many SNC athletes have been honored as academic all-conference athletes.
In the fall and winter sports, SNC had a total of 78 athletes honored on the all-academic teams. The spring '09 lists are currently not available since the sports are in full swing, but last year there were 33 athletes honored in their respected sports. That is a total of 111 athletes who were honored for their academic excellence in their sports. Since there are roughly 380 student athletes at St. Norbert College, that means 1 in every 3.4 student athletes at SNC are honored for their academic excellence.
Athletic director Tim Bald feels this is a great achievement for SNC athletics and shows athletes here care about their classroom achievements. "Those numbers show you how athletes are a direct reflection of the student body. In fact, athletes are almost a mirror image GPA wise of normal students attending SNC. Lots of times when student-athletes are in season they utilize their time wisely and maintain a higher academic standing than most of the student body."
Graybill feels this is true and has proven very crucial to maintaining her 3.62 GPA. "My freshman and sophomore year I did not do cross-country in the fall semester so I had a lot of free time. Without a fall sport I found a lot of distractions and never got the grades I would achieve in the winter and spring semester while competing in track. Athletics forced me to focus more on everything and really helped me as much in the classroom as it did on the track."
St. Norbert College has had many athletes and teams in the 2008-09 seasons achieve all-academic excellence in their respected sport. The United States Track and Cross Country Coaches Association named the women's cross-country team of 2008 an All-Academic team. They excelled on and off the course by maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.44. Besides this national recognition, between the Midwest Conference (MWC) and National Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) conference, many SNC athletes have been honored as academic all-conference athletes.
In the fall and winter sports, SNC had a total of 78 athletes honored on the all-academic teams. The spring '09 lists are currently not available since the sports are in full swing, but last year there were 33 athletes honored in their respected sports. That is a total of 111 athletes who were honored for their academic excellence in their sports. Since there are roughly 380 student athletes at St. Norbert College, that means 1 in every 3.4 student athletes at SNC are honored for their academic excellence.
Athletic director Tim Bald feels this is a great achievement for SNC athletics and shows athletes here care about their classroom achievements. "Those numbers show you how athletes are a direct reflection of the student body. In fact, athletes are almost a mirror image GPA wise of normal students attending SNC. Lots of times when student-athletes are in season they utilize their time wisely and maintain a higher academic standing than most of the student body."
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