June 17, 2002
Truman Athletic Teams Excel in Classroom
The Truman athletics program was not only successful on the field of competition this past season. The Bulldogs excelled in the classroom as well, recording a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 for all of the program's 424 male and female student-athletes.
Female sports, including basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field and volleyball, outperformed the men's teams with an average cumulative GPA of 3.38 for 158 women. Men's teams of baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field and wrestling earned an average of 3.09 in the classroom.
The women's cross country team led the pack with a 3.56 average cumulative grade point, while the two-time national champion women's swim team followed close behind at 3.54.
One-half of the women's swim team (15-of-30) had perfect 4.0 grade point averages for the spring 2002 semester, including five-time national champion, freshman Diana Betsworth (East Moline, Ill.) and the Kansas City Sports Commission and Foundation's Collegiate Female Athlete of the Year, Bridget Riley (Olathe, Kan.), who is a three-time national champion. In fact, half of the 18-woman contingent that claimed the school's second-straight national crown earned 4.0 GPAs in the spring.
On the men's side, the cross country team turned in the top cumulative grade point average at 3.22, followed by baseball with a 3.17. Indoor and outdoor track were combined to leave 18 of the 19 teams in the survey with a GPA better than 3.0.
Fifteen Truman student-athletes maintained 4.0 cumulative grade point averages following the spring semester, while Truman had a record five first-team academic all-Americas named this past academic year.
The Truman athletics program is expecting a top-five finish in the race for the Sears Directors' Cup that recognizes the overall success of an institution's program by awarding points for NCAA appearances. The final standings are expected to be announced tomorrow.
2001-02 Truman Athletics Team GPAs
Men's Sports Ave. ACT Ave. S-02 GPA Ave. Cum. GPA
Baseball 26.6 3.04 3.17
Basketball 25.8 2.95 3.06
Cross Country 26.5 3.14 3.22
Football 25.3 2.85 3.03
Golf 26.3 3.32 3.12
Soccer 25.3 2.76 3.12
Swimming 26.4 3.16 3.11
Tennis 27.8 3.02 3.16
Track 25.7 2.92 3.07
Wrestling 25.8 3.05 2.99
Male Athletes 2.97 3.09
All Truman Undergraduate Males-Excluding Athletes
3.04 3.15
Women's Sports Ave. ACT Ave. S-02 GPA Ave. Cum.GPA
Basketball 24.1 3.12 3.15
Cross Country 26.8 3.60 3.56
Golf 24.6 3.00 3.08
Soccer 26.0 3.47 3.43
Softball 25.8 3.15 3.28
Swimming 26.6 3.59 3.54
Tennis 26.4 3.12 3.24
Track 26.7 3.39 3.45
Volleyball 25.8 3.44 3.45
Female Athletes 3.36 3.38
All Truman State University Undergraduate Females-Excluding Athletes
3.29 3.32
All Truman State University Athletes (424)
3.13 3.20
All Truman Undergraduate Students-Excluding Athletes (4,747)
3.17 3.22