Aug. 22, 2005
COLUMBIA, Mo. - As students return to the University of Missouri campus for fall semester classes that begin Monday, the Tiger Athletic Department can revel over the record-breaking winter semester that their teams produced. Among the academic champions were the Missouri Track & Field teams. The men's team recorded a 3.23 team-record term GPA to lead the nation among track programs. The women's team was second in the nation, pacing their way to a 3.56 GPA earning their nation-leading, 31st-straight nod as an USTCA All-Academic Team.
Out of 88 track and field student-athletes, 67 finished last semester with a GPA of 3.0 or above and 18 earned perfect-4.0 scores. Those student-athletes that have above a 3.2 GPA and have obtained an NCAA regional-qualifying mark in the outdoor season or an NCAA provisional-qualifying mark in the indoor season were named to U.S. Track Coaches' Associations' (USTCA) All-Academic team. That list of 16 Tigers includes Amanda Bales, Jennifer Bennett, Elizabeth Robe, Conrad Woolsey, and Ryan Hampton, all earning 4.0 semester GPAs.
The women's team's 31st-consecutive All-Academic Team honor is unprecedented in collegiate track and field. Missouri has earned that honor every season since its inception in 1994, the only team in the nation to do so.
Included in the track and field GPA equation are members of the cross country teams. The Tiger women recorded a 3.72 term GPA in the winter semester, setting a new Missouri All-Time Department Record. The men's team also posted a team record with a 3.24 GPA. Those teams will start their season on September 10th by hosting the Missouri Cross Country Challenge.
This year, Dr. Rick McGuire will start his 23rd season as head of the track and field program, and above all else, McGuire has been a strong advocate of advancing the student-athlete as a person first and as an athlete second. In addition to producing over 100 on-track All-Americans and 92 conference champions while at Mizzou, McGuire has had dozens of his athletes achieve USTCA All-Academic status, ten chosen as CoSIDA Academic All-America, and 18 win NCAA postgraduate scholarships. In 2004-05 alone, five Missouri track and field athletes won the NCAA postgraduate award, the most of any team in any sport in any school in any division within the organization.
For more information on Missouri Track & Field, visit mutigers.com.