Taylor Athletics Ranked Among NAIA’s Best in Academic Honors
UPLAND, Ind. – Taylor University saw each of its 20 varsity athletics programs post grade-point averages of 3.0 and above during the 2019-2020 year, marking the eighth-straight year with every TU team earning NAIA Scholar-Team recognition.
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced that over 2,100 teams from around the nation had earned Scholar-Team honors by posting team GPA’s of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale during the 2019-2020 year.
Taylor once again ranked among the NAIA’s elite in academics, ranking first in the nation in percentage of teams honored and joining 21 other institutions to record at least 20 Scholar-Team awards. Among those 22 universities with at least 20 Scholar-Teams, TU was one-of-three to have each of its varsity programs make the list for a 100-percent rate.
The Trojans also boasted a team GPA of at least 3.25 in 19 sports, matching the second-highest total in the NAIA, and saw 12 teams post grade-point averages of 3.50 and above.
Taylor claimed four of the highest team GPA’s in the entire NAIA, with women’s basketball ranking 54th overall among all Scholar-Teams with a 3.75 GPA, while women’s cross country and women’s outdoor track ranked 104th with a 3.70 and volleyball came in at 117th with a 3.69 mark.
TU also had 16 of its teams finish inside the Top-25 within their respective sport, with 12 teams ranking among the top-10 and five finishing among the top-five.
For the second-straight year, Taylor logged the best team GPA of any men’s lacrosse program with a mark of 3.29, while also leading all women’s lacrosse programs at 3.67. TU also saw men’s soccer (3.50) rank second, women’s basketball (3.75) and women’s outdoor track (3.70) rank fifth and volleyball (3.69), women’s soccer (3.65), women’s indoor track (3.64), men’s basketball (3.50) and men’s cross country (3.50) finish among the top-10 in their respective sports.
Taylor led its conference or league in team GPA in baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, women’s indoor track, women’s outdoor track, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse and men’s soccer. In all, TU paced its league in 10-of-20 sports, and finished among the top-three in its league in 17-of-20 sports.
Taylor has now led the NAIA in percentage of teams to earn Scholar-Team honors in each of the past eight years, while ranking inside the top-11 in total number of Scholar-Teams each year during that stretch.
In addition to the Scholar-Team honors, the NAIA also officially released its list of NAIA Scholar-Athlete award winners, with Taylor piling up 104 honors. The Scholar-Athlete award is given to student-athletes who have reached junior status academically with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 and above.
Taylor’s 2019-2020 NAIA Scholar-Teams
Women’s Basketball – 3.75
Women’s Outdoor Track – 3.70
Women’s Cross Country – 3.70
Volleyball – 3.69
Women’s Lacrosse – 3.67
Women’s Soccer – 3.65
Women’s Indoor Track – 3.64
Women’s Golf – 3.61
Softball – 3.54
Men’s Basketball – 3.50
Men’s Cross Country – 3.50
Men’s Soccer – 3.50
Men’s Golf – 3.49
Women’s Tennis – 3.49
Men’s Tennis – 3.42
Men’s Outdoor Track – 3.37
Baseball – 3.35
Men’s Indoor Track – 3.33
Men’s Lacrosse – 3.29
Football – 3.11