The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced the 1,585 teams that have earned the distinction of Scholar-Teams for the 2015-16 academic year. Texas Wesleyan achieved the honor of having 10 out of our eligible 15 athletic teams to make the list.
 
For a team to be considered for the NAIA Scholar-Team award, it must have a minimum 3.0-grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) as defined by the institution. The team grade point average includes all eligible varsity student-athletes.
 
The Rams doubled their Scholar-Teams from last years' five to an institution record 10 teams.
 
TxWes stacked well against their Sooner Athletic Conference mates as well. While Oklahoma City University tabbed 14 sports, the Rams came in second along with Wayland Baptist with 10. John Brown earned nine Scholar-Teams. St. Gregory's had eight while SAGU and Mid-America Christian both had six teams make the cut. The conference posted 63 teams to the list.
 
Women's golf and women's tennis led Texas Wesleyan Athletics for the highest team GPA at 3.27. The women's golf squad has never missed the Scholar-Team list since the sport started at Wesleyan four years ago.
 
Volleyball followed with a 3.23 GPA, and competitive cheer and dance finished the academic year with a 3.22 GPA. Women's track and field took a 3.14 GPA as a team. Women's soccer posted a 3.08 GPA while Men's Golf and Men's track and field each had a 3.06 GPA. Men's soccer also made the cut with a 3.05 GPA, and women's cross country earned a spot on the list with a 3.03 GPA.
 
The baseball program narrowly missed making the list with a 2.962 GPA. Baseball also had the most eligible players who studied 971 hours of course work, the most hours of all other sports.
 
"I am so proud of our athletes and coaches." touted Director of Athletics Steve Trachier."Our core business here at the University is the education of students. Our athletes continue to excel both in the classroom and on the field of play. It is extremely gratifying to work with coaches who understand our mission and believe in the concept of student-athlete. Our expectation will always be that school comes first, 100 percent of the time."
 
In all, Texas Wesleyan athletes accumulated 6,567 hours of course work to boast a 3.0067 GPA department-wide (15 eligible sports), not including table tennis.

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