Student Athletes Exceed GPA Goal

The Malone University athletic department announced that it again met its target of attaining a combined student-athlete grade point average above 3.00.

During the Spring 2017 semester, the combined GPA for all 416 Pioneer student-athletes was a 3.111, the department's highest cumulative GPA for a semester since Malone completed its transition to NCAA Division II membership in 2013. The previous highest GPA/semester was a 3.064 in 2015.

 "We are extremely proud of our student-athletes at Malone," said Pioneer athletic director Charlie Grimes.  "They continue to do an outstanding job of balancing academics and athletics."

The combined GPA average for all women's teams was a 3.340; men's teams a 2.956. Volleyball posted the highest combined GPA among Malone's athletic programs with an average of 3.606. The men's teams were paced by the golf program which finished the semester with an average of 3.382. Thirteen of the Pioneers' 16 athletic programs achieved a 3.0 or greater.

"I am very pleased to once again surpass our GPA goal," said Grimes. "It is truly a testament of the high priority that our coaching staff and students have placed on excelling academically and being leaders in the classrooms on campus."

In addition to posting the highest overall GPA in the NCAA era, the average of 3.340 ranks as the top mark compiled by Malone's women's teams since the institution joined Division II.