From the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morris Township:
The College of Saint Elizabeth’s student-athletes placed first overall in the North Eastern Athletic Conference Faculty Athletic Representative’s Cup for academic success, which was announced this week.
The FAR’s Cup takes two rankings into account: 1) an institution’s two-semester grade point average for all its student-athletes that competed in NEAC-sponsored sports during 2015-16; and 2) the percentage of 2015-16 NEAC Scholar-Athletes within the school’s total number of student-athletes. These two rankings were then added together for a total score, with the lower the total, the better the overall ranking.
CSE’s student-athletes finished the 2015-16 year with a 3.28 overall GPA and a scholar-athlete percentage of .508, good enough for first place in both categories.
The Eagles had 31 student-athletes named NEAC Scholar-Athletes in July. Wells College finished in second place, four points behind CSE, while Lancaster Bible College and Penn State Berks finished tied for third place, eight points behind the Eagles.
Director of Athletics Juliene Simpson is thrilled with the accomplishment of the student-athletes.
“This is truly a testimony to our CSE Mission, ‘Scholarship and Critical Inquiry.’ Our student-athletes, coaches, faculty and our Academic Success Center are to be commended on their commitment to excel in the classroom. Our senior class set a goal their freshmen year to be the best and receive recognition for the College for the highest GPA in the NEAC. Our entire campus community is proud of their hard work, dedication and amazing accomplishment.”
CSE’s first-place finish comes after a second-place finish the previous year. In 2014-15, CSE finished with the highest overall GPA at 3.302, but finished fourth place in the scholar-athlete rankings with a .3673 percentage.
Many of CSE’s student-athletes were excited when they found out they won the award for top GPA.
“It’s a great achievement for the student-athletes. It feels great being recognized and winning this amazing award because it really shows all our time and hard work is paying off,” said tennis player and SAAC Vice President Brandi Garriques.
Senior Shervonne Gittens saw the success both on and off the field.
“I’m proud of us as student-athletes that we were able to achieve not only success in athletics, but also success in the classroom.”
Lacrosse senior Amanda Inacio is proud of the improvement as an athletic department over her four years.
“It’s truly an amazing accomplishment. I know all the scholar-athletes, along with myself, worked very hard for this and it feels great that we succeeded.”
Junior soccer and lacrosse player Maria Trujillo also expressed her excitement at winning the award. “It’s a really big accomplishment as a student-athlete and for the College of Saint Elizabeth. It feels great that our hard work pays off and gets recognized.”
CSE also placed second in the Direct Report’s Cup for sportsmanship. For the Direct Report’s Cup, each conference coach voted on the level of sportsmanship that was exhibited throughout the season.
CSE finished with a 27.667 average, eight points behind the winner, Lancaster Bible College. The Eagles’ second-place finish is a big improvement from last year, when they finished in 10th place.
Simpson is proud of the way the student-athletes represented the college both on and off the playing field this season.
“Last year when our student-athletes, coaches and athletic staff saw we were 10th in the NEAC for sportsmanship, there was great disappointment,” Simpson said. “Together, goals were set as a department and on each team to improve sportsmanship in all areas which individuals were directly involved, as well as our fans.
“It is remarkable to go from tenth to second in just one year. This year we will want to continue to enjoy the competitions and the love of the game as it was meant to be.”
