By Calvin Jensen, USU Eastern Sports Information Contributor
Winning in the classroom plays a big role in the vision of the USU Eastern athletic department for their student athletes. That vision is continually becoming a reality as the 2019-2020 NJCAA Academic Teams of the Year were announced last week.
Three of USU Eastern women’s programs found themselves within the top 20 schools in the nation within their respective sport. Women’s basketball earned a 3.58 GPA on the year, which ranked them tied at the No. 4 spot nationally. Women’s soccer tied at the No. 11 spot with 3.56 GPA. Leading the athletic department and coming in at No. 17 within their sport is women’s volleyball with a 3.61 GPA on the year.
After a successful first year at the department’s helm, USU Eastern’s athletic director Scott Madsen is pleased with the direction that the programs are headed academically. “These students have earned this great honor with all their hard work and dedication to succeeding,” stated Madsen.
Having access to a full-time academic advisor in the athletic department has provided the student athletes the best opportunity to be successful in their classes and ensuring they are on the right track as they pursue their degrees.
“Jaycie Miller and her athletic academic advising staff have put in countless hours preparing a way for all of our athletes to succeed, oftentimes putting in extra hours. When you couple that with the type of student athletes that our coaching staff are recruiting to the University, our student athletes have every chance possible to succeed at the highest level. I am so blessed to be able to work around such wonderful people and student athletes,” concluded Madsen.
Support from the leaders of the university have been instrumental in the success of the athletic department as a whole, both on and off the court. The successes have not gone unnoticed, “We have amazing student athletes who are outstanding on the court, field and in the classroom. This recognition is earned through a lot of hard work, studying and team effort. I could not be more proud of our student athletes,” said USUE Associate Vice President Greg Dart.
While there is still uncertainty of how learning and sports competitions will play out in the fall, the university leaders and athletic department are optimistic of another successful year of accomplishments for student athletes at Utah State University Eastern.