Aug. 14, 2007

Story by Josh Centor, NCAA Double-A Zone

It's not terribly often that Southeast Missouri competes for a national championship, so when the schools wins one, it's definitely time to break out a happy dance and celebrate.

On Friday, the Southeast Missouri women's gymnastics team learned it had been named academic national champions by the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W), and in my opinion, this is just as great an honor as winning the national crown for athletic performance. The Redhawks garnered the award thanks to a 3.74 team grade point average, which included perfect 4.0s from Sandra Blake, Maureen Grimaldi, Jacqueline Heath and Kelley Krengiel.

The best part of this entire story, however, is the success of the other teams in the sport. Ten gymnastics teams finished with cumulative GPAs exceeding 3.5, and Southeast Missouri narrowly edged Denver, which finished with a 3.736 team GPA. Southern Utah, which had won the national crown for the previous six years, finished third in the academic standings with a 3.733 team GPA.

Follow the link to the original story by Mr. Centor-- http://www.doubleazone.com/2007/08/morning_coffee_230.html#comments