Arkansas Achieves Academic Honor For Fall Semester

NORFOLK, Va. — The Arkansas swimming and diving team has been named a College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Team, the CSCAA announced on Wednesday.

The awards are in recognition of teams that achieved a grade point average of 3.0 or higher during the 2016 fall semester.

For the fourth consecutive semester, Arkansas has recorded a team GPA above 3.50, as the Razorbacks posted a 3.51 GPA in the fall, ranking tied for 29th among all Division I women’s programs and third among Southeastern Conference programs.

“I am excited and very proud of our ladies,” head coach Neil Harper said. “This is a total team achievement. To be a Scholar All-American Team with a team GPA of above 3.50 is a reflection of our commitment to academics from every student, in every class, every day for every grade. We take pride in our teams continued academic success and value it just as highly as our teams’ success in the pool and on the diving boards.”

Arkansas was 0.17 points higher than the national average for women’s programs, which was 3.34.

Founded in 1922, the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) – the oldest organization of college coaches in America – is a professional organization of college swimming and diving coaches dedicated to serving and providing leadership for the advancement of the sport of swimming & diving at the collegiate level.

CSCAA Executive Director Joel Shinofield said “Our coaches understand that the essence of intercollegiate athletics is the experience each student-athlete receives, and an emphasis on academics reflects what coaches feel is most important.”

91 percent of all Division I women’s swimming and diving teams achieved GPAs of 3.00 or higher, including 11 SEC programs.

Arkansas returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 10 a.m. when it hosts Kansas at the Arkansas Natatorium on Senior Day.

For more information on Arkansas Swimming and Diving, follow @RazorbackSD on Twitter.