Ellis

Micaela Ellis ’18, a kinesiology major, played on the women’s basketball team while earning her degree.

In the follow-up to a historically strong fall semester, Longwood’s more than 200 student-athletes combined to turn in another impressive academic performance this spring.

After logging a 3.05 grade-point average in fall 2017 that was Longwood athletics’ highest mark in nearly a decade, Longwood’s student-athletes hit the books hard again to surpass that mark with a 3.11 in the spring. That performance gave the Lancers a combined GPA of 3.08 for the 2017-18 academic year, improving on the 3.01 GPA the group posted in 2016-17.

“It’s been an incredible year in the classroom for our student-athletes,” said Longwood Athletics Director Troy Austin. “To put together an academic scorecard like they did this past fall and spring—and to a larger extent, over the past several years—is a testament to hard work, character and sheer grit, all qualities Longwood University values and fosters in our students. 

'To put together an academic scorecard like they did ... is a testament to hard work, character and sheer grit, all qualities Longwood University values and fosters in our students.'

TROY AUSTIN, ATHLETICS DIRECTOR

“No one person can produce an effort like this, so I commend the student-athletes individually for their long-term effort, their teams as a whole for helping lift each other up, and our student-athlete population en masse for representing our university in such a positive manner.”

The success was a widespread effort, as 48 Lancers earned Dean’s List honors for posting GPAs of at least 3.50, and 25 more received President’s List recognition for holding perfect 4.0 GPAs. Additionally, Longwood’s men’s teams amassed a cumulative GPA of 3.02, while the women’s programs posted a 3.27.

Seven of Longwood’s 14 programs posted team GPAs of at least 3.0 in both semesters of work: women’s basketball, field hockey, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s lacrosse, women’s soccer and softball. Field hockey’s 3.54 GPA in the spring was tops among Longwood’s women’s teams, while men’s golf’s 3.52 mark was the highest among Longwood’s men’s teams.

Graduation weekend saw 40 Longwood student-athletes receive their undergraduate degrees from Longwood and another— men’s basketball’s Charles Glover ’18, a business major—earn his graduate degree. 

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