Baseball Earns ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award
Jul 18, 2017
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The American Baseball Coaches Association is proud to honor over 200 college and high school programs with this year's ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award. Teams from every level of college and high school baseball were honored with the award, which recognizes teams coached by ABCA members that posted a GPA over 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the 2016-17 academic year. The University of Dubuque was one of fifty-nine NCAA Division III Schools to earn the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award for head coach Paul Wyczawski (2017 IIAC Coach of the Year).
"We are so excited for the opportunity to honor so many of our member coaches and their players with the Team Academic Excellence Award," said ABCA Executive Director Craig Keilitz. "With all that is expected of our student-athletes, acheiving a team GPA of 3.0 or above is truly an accomplishment. It is a testament to the leadership and commitment of our member coaches to developing their players into individuals who will be successful on and off the field."
The Spartans earned the #2-seed at the 2017 Iowa Conference Baseball Tournament after finishing the conference season with a record setting 17-7 record. UD ended the season with a 23-17 overall mark, another record for the Spartans and coach Wyczawski.
In total, 215 programs were recognized with the 2016-17 ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award, including 68 high school programs and 59 teams from NCAA Div. III.
Coaches were able to nominate their teams for the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award following the conclusion of their spring semesters prior to the nomination deadline of July 7. To be honored, teams had to meet the following criteria:
- Must be a high school or college team.
- Head coach must be a current ABCA member.
- Team must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 on a 4.0 scale during the 2016-17 academic year. GPA may not be rounded up.
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 Ethics in Coaching Award.
NCAA Division III
Albright College (PA)
Aurora University (IL)
Beloit College (WI)
Berry College (GA)
Bethel University (MN)
Bluffton University (OH)
Cairn University (PA)
California Institute of Technology
Carleton College (MN)
Carroll University (WI)
Chapman University (CA)
Dominican University (IL)
Drew University (NJ)
East Texas Baptist University
Edgewood College (WI)
Elmhurst College (IL)
Endicott College (MA)
Franklin & Marshall College (PA)
Gettysburg College (PA)
Grinnell College (IA)
Haverford College (PA)
Heidelberg University (OH)
Johns Hopkins University (MD)
Martin Luther College (MN)
Marymount University (VA)
Middlebury College (VT)
North Park University (IL)
Penn State Behrend (PA)
Piedmont College (GA)
Principia College (IL)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY)
Rhodes College (TN)
Rockford University (IL)
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (IN)
Saint Joseph's College (NE)
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota (MN)
Salve Regina University (RI)
Schreiner University (TX)
Sewanee: The University of the South (TN)
Shenandoah University (VA)
Southern Vermont College
Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ)
Suffolk University (MA)
SUNY New Paltz
SUNY Oneonta
Texas Lutheran University
The College of New Jersey
The College of Wooster (OH)
Thiel College (PA)
Tufts University (MA)
Union College (NY)
United States Merchant Marine Academy (NY)
University of Chicago (IL)
University of Dubuque (IA)
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (TX)
University of Mary Washington (VA)
Wartburg College (IA)
Whittier College (CA)
William Paterson University (NJ)
