By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---At Owens Community College, the student-athletes are excelling in their respective sports and in the classroom.
This past fall semester, the athletic department inched closer to its goal of a 3.0 cumulative GPA with a 2.89 GPA combined through all eight sports.
"Academic excellence is one of the core values for Owens Express athletics," said Judy Loehrke, Owens Assistant Athletic Director for Academics. "These successes are a result of all of the hard work our student-athletes have put in the classroom this semester."
Leading the way are men's golf (3.38 GPA), softball (3.23 GPA) and men's basketball (3.04 GPA). Not far behind is women's basketball (2.88 GPA), women's soccer (2.86 GPA) and baseball (2.78 GPA). Women's volleyball earned a 2.68 GPA and men's soccer had a 2.28 GPA.
"It was truly a nice blessing to see," said Owens men's golf head coach Josh Williams on his team's academic success. "The guys worked extremely hard in the classroom, and I'm extremely happy."
In all, 70 student-athletes earned at least a 3.0 GPA for the fall semester, and nine student-athletes earned a perfect 4.0 GPA. Owens has a total of 134 student-athletes, so more than half earned at least a 3.0 GPA.
In each of the past two years, the softball and women's volleyball programs have earned National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) team academic awards, which are given to teams with a 3.0 year-long cumulative GPA.
Away from the classroom, the women's soccer team earned its second straight trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I national tournament this past fall. The men's golf team won six of their seven fall tournaments, while finishing second in the only one they didn't win.
Additionally, the women's basketball team has started the season 15-1 and are in the midst of a 15 game winning streak, while the men's basketball team is 12-4 overall heading into conference play Saturday. The women's basketball team is currently ranked third in the nation, while the men are currently ranked 11th in the nation.