Five Men's Soccer Programs Earn National Academic Honor
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The United Soccer Coaches announced the 2016-17 College Team Academic Award Winners on Thursday, October 5. To qualify for the award, a team must have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 or higher for the entire academic year. The team GPA is determined by adding every player's GPA, then dividing by the number of players. Five of the MAC men's soccer programs were honored with this award. Three MAC programs (Western Michigan, Akron, West Virginia) had both their men's and women's programs recognized.
The Akron men's team under fifth-year head coach Jared Embick was honored for the 10th consecutive year and 11th time overall after registering a cumulative 3.09 grade point average for the 2016-17 academic year.
The Mountaineer men, under head coach Marlon LeBlanc finished with a 3.28 GPA in 2016-17. This is the 10th year in a row that they have been recognized by the United Soccer Coaches.
For the NIU Huskies and head coach Ryan Swan, this marks the second consecutive year in which the Huskies have garnered the honor as they posted a cumulative team grade point average of 3.23.
Western Michigan University, led by head coach Chad Wiseman, earned a cumulative GPA of 3.34 in the 2016-17 Academic year.
Finally, Bowling Green and head coach Eric Nichols had a team GPA of 3.13 in the 2016-17 academic year. Nichols' team was recognized for the seventh time in the last eight seasons, and the men's soccer Falcons made the list for the ninth time overall.
Full United Soccer Coaches Release
