The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference began handing out awards for the top team grade-point average in all 21 of its sports this year, and one Fort Lewis College squad walked away with one.
The FLC women’s basketball team carried a 3.48 GPA to take home the Brechler Award for women’s basketball, outpacing the rest of the conference’s women’s basketball teams in the classroom.
“Our players have worked hard both academically and athletically, and that hard work and dedication paid off,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said in a news release.
The award is named after the RMAC’s first commissioner, Paul W. Brechler, who served from 1976 to 1990. Along with his wife, Wanda, he was the first inductee into the RMAC Hall of Fame.
Grades were used from the 2012-13 school year, and only student-athletes who used a season of competition were counted, leaving out redshirts. The formula used was taking total quality points for both semesters divided by the total number of credits for both semesters.
“It is a great accomplishment to hold the highest team GPA in the conference, and we look forward to the challenge of continually getting better,” Flores said.
Plaques for each team will be presented at the 2013 RMAC Hall of Fame and Awards banquet July 12 in Colorado Springs.
Fort Lewis had the sixth highest GPA of all the winners, with CSU-Pueblo’s men’s tennis team taking the top spot with a 3.84 GPA.
The Skyhawks went 18-11 this season and 16-6 in conference play, earning the No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament before bowing out in the first round to Colorado Mesa.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
