For the 13th straight semester, the UNC Asheville swimming & diving team earned College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Team honors on Tuesday.
“Congratulations to the team for their incredible performances in the classroom during the fall of 2018,” said Head Swimming & Diving Coach Elizabeth Lykins. “It is an honor to be selected as a Scholar All-America Team by the CSCAA.
“The squad earned a 3.51 grade-point average, in which five ladies had a perfect 4.0 and were named to the Chancellor’s List. We appreciate the unwavering assistance from Assistant Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Success Rebecca Nelms and Faculty Athletic Representative Dr. Jeff Wilcox.”
The All-America Teams represent a record 713 teams from 460 institutions from across all NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA divisions. Overall, 16,502 student-athletes were represented.
To earn the honor, teams were required to post a GPA of 3.0 or higher for the fall semester, and the Bulldogs posted a 3.51 GPA for the 2018 fall semester.
Out of the 175 NCAA Division I women’s swimming & diving programs, UNC Asheville had an equal or higher GPA than 129 teams.
Seven of the nine Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) teams were awarded with the honor. UNC Asheville had the fourth-best GPA last semester amongst CCSA schools.
Per the CSCAA
Thirty-three teams achieved Scholar All-America status for the first time, reflecting the continued growth of swimming and diving. “The narrative is that swimming & diving is on the decline, but in reality, colleges and universities have added 100 teams since 2015,” according to CSCAA Executive Director Greg Earhart. “Presidents and athletic directors recognize that swimmers and divers are excellent students and ambassadors for their institutions.”
Liberty University (Division I) had the highest GPA of all women’s teams. The Flames earned an average GPA of 3.79. Among men’s programs, MIT (Division III) took the top spot with a 3.78.
Women’s divisional leaders included Biola (3.72) and Saint Catherine’s (3.75) in Division II and III, respectively. SCAD-Savannah (3.61) and Indian River (3.45) were tops among NAIA and NJCAA women’s programs.
About the CSCAA
Founded in 1922, the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) – the oldest organization of college coaches in America – is a professional organization of college swimming and diving coaches dedicated to serving and providing leadership for the advancement of the sport of swimming & diving at the collegiate level.
To view the full CSCAA release and the teams that qualified for the honor, click HERE.
