Behind a record 10 teams that achieved cumulative grade point averages of at least 3.0, Longwood’s 14 varsity programs achieved a department-wide GPA of 3.13 for the fall 2020 semester.
That mark was one one-hundredth of a point shy of matching the department record of 3.14, set during the fall 2018 and fall 2019 semesters.
The collective performance was widespread among the university’s more than 200 student-athletes, as nine different teams combined to produce 22 President’s List selections with perfect GPAs of 4.0, and 13 programs yielded 63 Dean’s List honorees with GPAs between 3.50 and 3.99.
Longwood women’s tennis had the highest GPA of all teams at 3.53, while men’s tennis followed with a 3.44. Women’s soccer recorded a 3.43 and softball a 3.31 to round out the top three for the women, while men’s soccer set a program record and had the second highest of all men’s teams at 3.25, and men’s basketball also set a record with a 3.24.
“We’re exceptionally proud of the work our student-athletes did in the classroom this past semester, especially under the uncertain circumstances we have all navigated since returning to campus in August,” said Longwood athletics director Michelle Meadows.
“To come back from a spring semester that was disrupted midway through and seamlessly continue a longstanding trend of academic success is impressive.”
The cumulative 3.13 GPA marked the eighth straight semester the Lancers finished with a department GPA of at least 3.00 and the 12th time in the past 13 semesters Longwood athletics hit that benchmark.
“It’s been gratifying to look back on the academic performance of our student-athletes and see such impressive numbers stack up year after year,” Meadows said. “We have finished above a 3.10 for six straight semesters, but the difference between now and three years ago when that streak started is that what was once a pinnacle is now our benchmark for success.
“That is a direct result of the cultural emphasis our student-athletes, coaches, athletics staff and university place on academics, and the hard work of many to sustain it.”
Along with women’s tennis (3.53), men’s tennis (3.44), women’s soccer (3.43), softball (3.31), men’s soccer (3.25) and men’s basketball (3.24), field hockey (3.22), men’s golf (3.21) and women’s lacrosse (3.21) also finished above 3.00.
Of Longwood’s 22 President’s List selections, a department-best six came from women’s soccer, and four each from field hockey and women’s lacrosse. Women’s soccer also had a department-high 11 dean’s List honorees, while men’s soccer produced 10. More than 60 percent of Longwood student-athletes finished with at least a 3.00 during the semester.
Longwood’s GPA success comes on the heels of another strong performance in the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate metric, which measures a university’s academic success related to scholarship student-athlete graduation rates. Longwood hit a four-year score of 90 in the December report, which matched the department record for a third straight year.
Longwood Athletics President’s List Selections (Fall 2020)
- Mason Basdikis (softball)
- Nicole Fordyce (women’s lacrosse)
- Andrew Gorham (baseball)
- Karlyn Harwood (field hockey)
- Alexandra Hincu (women’s tennis)
- Madison Hommey (women’s soccer)
- Sydney Jacobsen (softball)
- Hunter-Paige Johnson (field hockey)
- Kylie Levine (field hockey)
- Mary Kate Levush (women’s soccer)
- Madison Lockamy (women’s soccer)
- Destiny Martinez (softball)
- Harper Melton (women’s lacrosse)
- Haley Moomau (women’s lacrosse)
- Emily Mothersbaugh (women’s soccer)
- Lucas Muller (men’s soccer)
- Rosen Naydenov (men’s tennis)
- Carrie Reaver (women’s soccer)
- Danielle Toone (women’s soccer)
- Alexis Wayland (softball)
- Casey Williams (women’s cross country)
- Charlotte Wilm (field hockey)
Longwood Athletics Dean’s List Selections (Fall 2020)
- Brooke Anya (women’s basketball)
- Sydney Backstrom (softball)
- Zoe Barton (women’s tennis)
- Alexa Barwis (women’s lacrosse)
- Mason Butcher (men’s soccer)
- Guillermo Cagigas (men’s tennis)
- Katie Call (women’s lacrosse)
- Colin Caporal (men’s golf)
- Marc Casasnovas (men’s tennis)
- Camryn Conklin (women’s soccer)
- Kennedy Culbreath (women’s soccer)
- Dominick D’Ercole (baseball)
- Alexandra Dinger (women’s soccer)
- Eliot Dix (baseball)
- Garrett Erford (baseball)
- Luke Farber (men’s soccer)
- Wesley Forst (men’s soccer)
- Catharine Forst (women’s soccer)
- Maddie Foster (women’s cross country)
- Lauren Fox (softball)
- Katherine Frey (field hockey)
- Jeffrey Gates (men’s soccer)
- Daniel George (men’s golf)
- Sean Gibbons (baseball)
- Jesper Granlund (men’s basketball)
- Ryan Hammer (men’s golf)
- Jonas Kalchner (men’s soccer)
- Katelyn Laux (women’s soccer)
- Luna Lopez (field hockey)
- Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez (men’s tennis)*
- Bennett Mohn (men’s basketball)
- Jacqueline Nickels (women’s golf)
- Madison Nuckols (field hockey)
- Emma Nurgazieva (women’s tennis)
- Crystal Nzewi (women’s tennis)
- Cameron O’Conner (men’s basketball)
- Jade O’Connor (women’s lacrosse)
- Mallory Odell (women’s basketball)
- Nicholas Paasch (baseball)
- Alayna Palamar (women’s soccer)
- Kelly Park (softball)
- Miles Parroco (men’s golf)
- Jacob Reimers (men’s soccer)
- Andrijana Reljic (women’s basketball)
- Tanner Robertson (softball)
- Ernest Rocabert (men’s tennis)
- Mikayla Schuetz (women’s soccer)
- Emily Smith (women’s lacrosse)
- Cameron Toddy (field hockey)
- Bobbi Uhl (women’s golf)
- Isabella Unrath (women’s soccer)
- Madison Van Dyke (women’s soccer)
- Leif Vanslyke (men’s soccer)
- Isabelle Villarreal (women’s soccer)
- Matthew Ward (men’s soccer)
- Zac Watson (men’s basketball)
- Brandon Weaver (men’s golf)
- Rio Weber (field hockey)
- Benjamin Wilkinson (men’s socer)
- Nathaniel Wong (men’s soccer)
- Arleigh Wood (softball)
- Jamie Wright (field hockey)
- Kiersten Yuhas (women’s soccer)
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