Spartan Baseball Team Earns ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award
Jul 19, 2016
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The University of Dubuque Spartan baseball team were part of the inaugural 33 teams in NCAA Division III to be named recipients of the 2015-16 ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award, which honors high school and college programs that posted a GPA over 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the academic year, have been announced. Over 140 high school and college programs were recognized with the inaugural award.
"I am really proud of the effort our team gave in the classroom all year," said Head Coach Paul Wyczawski. "We stress being a well-rounded student-athlete in our program and it's great to see them achieve in the classroom and on the field in 2016."
The Spartans tied for fourth place and finished the Iowa Conference with a 12-16 record and qualified for the 2016 IIAC Baseball Tournament. Daniel Karnick (Sr., Winona, Minn.), Dalton Garst (Jr., Winnebago, Ill.), Eddie Pablo (Jr., Yelm, Wash.), Michael Salazar (Jr., Scottsdale, Ariz.), Will Doherty (So., Cross Plaines, Wis.), Trace Florek (So., Yelm, Wash.), and Tyler Lewan (So., Golden, Colo. all were named to the 2016 All-Academic Team in the Iowa Conference. To be recognized as All-Academic, student-athletes must be at least a sophomore in academic standing with at least one year in residence and attain a 3.5 or better grade point average (on a 4.0 scale). As a team, UD finished the 2015-16 season with a cumulative grade point average of 3.265.
"We are extremely proud to recognize the academic accomplishments of so many of our member coaches' programs this year," said ABCA Executive Director Craig Keilitz. "This award highlights our coaches' commitment to developing student-athletes that excel both on and off the field, and we're proud of these student-athletes for their success in the classroom."
Teams from NCAA Divisions I, II and III, junior college and high school were honored. The new award was announced in May and the deadline for teams to be nominated was July 15.
In order to qualify for the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award, programs must meet the following criteria:
- Must be a high school or college team
- Team must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 on a 4.0 scale during the 2015-16 academic year
- Head coach must be a current ABCA member
The American Baseball Coaches Association has a long tradition of recognizing the achievements of baseball coaches and student-athletes. The ABCA/Rawlings All-America Teams are the nation's oldest, founded in 1949, and the ABCA's awards program also includes the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Awards, the ABCA/Diamond Regional & National Coaches of the Year and several other major awards such as the ABCA Hall of Fame and the ABCA/Wilson Lefty Gomez Award.
NCAA Division III
Beloit College (WI)
Berry College (GA)
Carleton College (MN)
Carroll University (WI)
East Texas Baptist University
Edgewood College (WI)
Elmhurst College (IL)
Gettysburg College (PA)
Grinnell College (IA)
Johns Hopkins University (MD)
Kenyon College (OH)
Martin Luther College (MN)
Marymount University (VA)
Mount Aloysius College (PA)
North Park University (IL)
Piedmont College (GA)
Rhodes College (TN)
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (IN)
Schreiner University (TX)
Southwestern University (TX)
Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ)
SUNY Oneonta (NY)
The College of New Jersey
Thiel College (PA)
Trine University (IN)
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (NY)
Union College (NY)
University of Dubuque (IA)
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (TX)
Wartburg College (IA)
Westminster College (MO)
Whittier College (CA)
Whitworth University (WA)
