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The women's basketball team at Dana College has been hitting the
books hard for three straight years and finally they top the charts
as number one for the 2005-2006 Women’s Basketball Coaches
Association Academic Top 25 Honor Roll. Posting ranks as 22nd last
season and fifth in 2003-2004, Lady Vikings' Head Coach Brenda Mechels
has pushed her team to realize the importance of balancing both
academics and athletics. With a very young team on her hands, Mechels
hopes
to take this program to new heights this season with the fresh
talent.
"
We have been really young in the past, but we are a little bit older
this year and will be even more so next year. With that, I think
there comes a certain maturity and I have been fortunate to have
some kids in the program right now that truly value the academic
side of things," Mechels said.
"Their work ethic in the
classroom is a compliment to them, and is something that they take
on themselves and take pride in."
The WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll for NAIA is as follows:
School |
Team GPA |
1. Dana College |
3.585 |
2. Westminster College |
3.577 |
3. Indiana Wesleyan University |
3.554 |
4. Briar Cliff University |
3.552 |
5. Huntington University |
3.532 |
6. The Master's College |
3.526 |
7. Mount Marty College |
3.525 |
8. Concordia University – Nebraska |
3.516 |
9. University of Montana – Western |
3.507 |
10. Freed-Hardeman University |
3.501 |
11. Hannibal-La Grange College |
3.496 |
12. Georgetown College |
3.452 |
13. Campbellsville University |
3.450 |
14. Northwestern College |
3.440 |
15. Oklahoma Christian University |
3.400 |
16. Olivet Nazarene University |
3.391 |
17. University of Rio Grande |
3.388 |
18. Doane College |
3.376 |
19. Carlow University |
3.292 |
20. College of the Ozarks |
3.291 |
21. Lee University |
3.271 |
22. Tiffin University |
3.250 |
23. Cornerstone University |
3.141 |
24. Midway College |
3.014 |
25. Bethel College (Kansas) |
2.991 |
The WBCA honors teams in NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA
Division III, NAIA and Junior College/Community College. Other
top teams were South Dakota State University (NCAA I), University
of
Nebraska - Kearney (NCAA II), Colorado College (NCAA III) and Colby
Community College (JC/CC).
"
It is my pleasure to recognize each of these distinguished women's
basketball programs that have gone above and beyond excellence
on the court, and have extended it to the classroom," said
WBCA Chief Executive Officer Beth Bass. "These 117 teams
admirably strive to be successful all-around and we commend their
efforts.
Congratulations!"
GPAs are calculated by dividing the total
number of quality points earned by each student-athlete on an
institution's roster in the
given academic terms by the total number of hours earned by the
team. The GPAs are rounded to the nearest thousandth of a point.
Founded
in 1981, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) promotes
women's basketball by unifying coaches at all levels
to develop a reputable identity for the sport and to foster
and promote
the development of the game in all of its aspects as a sport
for women and girls. For more information about the WBCA, please
visit
WBCA.org.
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