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SoCon announces Spring Academic All-Conference team
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Four hundred and eighty-nine student-athletes earned a league-record 581 spots on the Spring 2019 Academic All-Southern Conference Team, the league office announced Tuesday.
The 581 selections are the most for any academic all-conference team in the history of the SoCon, which began selecting teams in the winter of 2002-03 and selected fall, winter and spring teams through 2014-15. Beginning in 2015-16, the winter and spring teams were combined, with those student-athletes honored after the spring semester. The previous record was 571 selections in the spring of 2018.
Ninety-two student-athletes earned the honor for both indoor and outdoor track and field.
Eight of the SoCon’s 10 full-time institutions had at least 47 honorees this year, representing the sports of men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, rifle, wrestling, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, men’s and women’s tennis, baseball and softball.
Associate members for men’s and women’s lacrosse, rifle and wrestling were also eligible for the award, accounting for 83 of the selections.
To be eligible for the academic all-conference team, student-athletes must carry at least a 3.3 cumulative grade point average at the conclusion of the spring semester and were required to compete in at least one-half of their teams’ competitions. In addition, the student-athletes must have successfully completed at least three semesters at their institutions, making true freshmen and first-year transfers ineligible for inclusion.
Twenty-seven student-athletes combined for 31 perfect 4.0 cumulative GPAs. That total is the second-most in league history, trailing only the 38 perfect GPAs from last spring.
The league’s nine women’s indoor track and field programs led the way with 65 academic all-conference selections, while the 10 women’s outdoor track and field programs produced 64 and the eight men’s lacrosse programs combined for 51.
Samford led all schools with 73 spots on the academic all-conference team, followed by Mercer with 65. ETSU (56), Furman (55), The Citadel (54) and Western Carolina (50) all had at least 50.