DENVER - Five WAC women's soccer teams have been honored by the United Soccer Coaches for success in the classroom, posting a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher in 2016-17.
CSU Bakersfield, Grand Canyon, Kansas City, UT Rio Grande Valley and Utah Valley represented the WAC on the list of 531 women's teams spanning all divisions. This is CSU Bakersfield's sixth time receiving this honor with the first one dating back to 2009. Grand Canyon has claimed it all four years they have been with the WAC as well as the season before. Kansas City has been honored with the award seven times dating back to 2010. This is the third year in a row for UT Rio Grande Valley and the fourth time for Utah Valley to be recognized.
A total of 813 soccer teams (282 men, 531 women) from throughout the United States have earned the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for exemplary performance in the classroom as a team during the 2016-17 academic year. Among these programs are 195 schools receiving honors for both their men and women's teams.
To qualify for the award, the team must have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 or higher for the entire academic year. The team GPA is determined by adding every player's GPA, then dividing by the number of players.
WAC 2016-17 Women's College Team Academic Award Winners
CSU Bakersfield, Gary Curneen, 3.16
Grand Canyon University, Derek Leader, 3.61
Kansas City, Chris Cissell, 3.46
UT Rio Grande Valley, Glad Bugariu, 3.59
Utah Valley University, Chris Lemay, 3.55