Seattle Pacific 2014 MPSF Academic Champion
Aug. 19, 2014 WOODLAND, CA--- The National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches (NACGC) has released its 2014 Academic All-American team and individual awards in women's gymnastics for this past school year. Seattle Pacific University has captured the first-ever MPSF Academic Team Championship by carrying the top overall team grade point average in the conference of 3.5023, also ranking 13th across the nation and third amongst Non-Division I programs. SPU narrowly edged Sacramento State in the academic competition, who placed second in the MPSF and 14th nationally with a team GPA of 3.4900. The University of Utah finished at the top of the NACGC academic list (3.7827) which included 62 teams.
Requiring a minimum 3.50 cumulative or year-long GPA to qualify for individual recognition, both Seattle Pacific and Sacramento State had 13 gymnasts earn an NACGC Academic All-American award on a list of 518 nationally. The Falcons and Hornets tied for third most in the nation with Western Michigan, only behind Texas Woman's University (16) and Utah (14). Also representing the MPSF was San Jose State with 10 individual awards, Alaska-Anchorage with nine, UC Davis with five, and Air Force with two. The MPSF had four gymnasts share the national lead with a perfect 4.00 GPA, including Marie Sophie Boggasch (aviation technology), Simone Penker (Natural Science), and Julia York (Psychology) from Alaska-Anchorage; as well as Dallas Smith from Sacramento State (Communications). Other NACGC Academic Honorees who led their respective teams in the MPSF included San Jose State's Cassandra Harrison (3.97, Kinesiology) and Gabrielle Kambur (3.97, International Business), Ryann Anderson of Air Force (3.75), and Lisa Wiktorski of UC Davis (3.71, Human Development). Lisa Goodhew of MPSF Academic Champion Seattle Pacific topped her team on the All-American list, backed by a 3.97 GPA in Physics.
This past spring, Seattle Pacific placed eight student-athletes on the MPSF All-Academic Team. In the gym, the 2014 Falcons were the most prolific scoring team in program history, accumulating the six highest team scores in the 41 years of the program. They qualified for the USAG National Championship Meet for the 32nd time in the last 33 years, where they recorded a third-place team finish. The Falcons also brought home individual national titles on all four events in the same season for the first time in school history.