INDIANAPOLIS – Nearly 2,300 student-athletes from around the league were officially named to the 2020-21 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Academic All-Conference Team that was released on Thursday morning.
All member institutions, full and associate, once again contributed to significant numbers across the board. Student-athletes competing in 23 total championship sports were included with this year's list gathered together by faculty athletic representatives and the league's sports information professionals.
In a difficult year to navigate through, student-athletes from the league demonstrated their excellence in the classroom by totaling 2,228 selections to the academic all-conference team. This was the second-largest class of names in conference history after 2,254 names were official in 2019-20.
Collaboratively, the league fell just shy of extending an eight-year run of record numbers, but with the addition of Ashland University effective July 1 and the impending add of Northwood University in 2022-23, the record count should be on the rise once again as a new page is turned in Great Midwest history.
The 2020-21 Presidents’ Cup runner-up Walsh University staked claim to the most individuals on the academic all-conference team list with a new yearly record of 346. The Cavaliers broke their own single-season record after posting 313 names to the academic all-conference team in 2019-20.
Tiffin also broke last year’s institutional record and produced the second-highest number for back-to-back seasons with 315 student-athletes honored for 2020-21. Findlay, the Presidents’ Cup winner for the third year in a row, increased as well from 269 to 292.
Many schools saw significant spikes from their academic all-conference team numbers from a year ago – a total of six institutions had 150 individuals or more receiving the honor.
The senior class carried the torch with the most academic all-conference team selections of 595. There were 552 sophomores, 505 juniors and 480 freshmen, while 96 with graduate student classification also made the grade.
Associate member schools in men’s lacrosse, Alderson Broaddus, Davis & Elkins, Mercyhurst, Seton Hill and Wheeling, also accounted for over 50 names alone. Ashland was an associate member in the sport of wrestling for 2020-21 and also contributed to the league-wide success.
A total of 133 student-athletes also held the coveted distinction of carrying a perfect 4.0 GPA or better for the most recently completed academic year.
To be named to the Great Midwest Academic All-Conference Team, the student-athlete’s grade point average must be a minimum of 3.30 based on the 4.0 system, the GPA shall be cumulative for the student-athlete’s entire collegiate career and the student-athlete must have completed at least one full academic year at the nominating institution. Student-athlete GPA's reported by each institution were reflected through the spring semester.
The Great Midwest institutions will look to take aim for yet another record-breaking number during the 2020-21 season to receive their respective academic all-conference team accolades.
By the Numbers: 2,228 Student-Athletes
Cedarville University: 167
University of Findlay: 292
Hillsdale College: 181
Kentucky Wesleyan College: 141
Ohio Valley University: 81
Lake Erie College: 159
Malone University: 170
Ohio Dominican University: 149
Tiffin University: 315
Trevecca Nazarene University: 126
Ursuline College: 94
Walsh University: 346
Associate Members (Alderson Broaddus University, Ashland University, Davis & Elkins College, Mercyhurst University, Seton Hill University, Wheeling University): 73
2020-21 Great Midwest Academic All-Conference Team (sorted by GPA)
2020-21 Great Midwest Academic All-Conference Team (sorted by Last Name)
2020-21 Great Midwest Academic All-Conference Team (sorted by School)
2020-21 Great Midwest Academic All-Conference Team (sorted by Sport)