PHOENIX, Ariz. – More than 200 student-athletes representing each of the nine Pacific West Conference institutions and all 11 of the league's athletic programs have been named to the 2009-10 PacWest Academic All-Conference Team.
The honor was announced on Friday, June 11, by the conference media relations office in Phoenix, Ariz.
A total of 224 student-athletes earned the academic award for compiling a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.30. This marked an increase of 79 student-athletes after 145 were honored in 2008-09.
Student-athletes must be in their second year of competition at the school, and must be at least a sophomore or second-year transfer student, to be considered eligible for the award. Freshman, red-shirt freshman and first-year transfers are not eligible.
Hawai'i Pacific University, the PacWest Commissioner's Cup Champion, led the league in the total number of athletes meeting the Academic All-Conference criteria. The Sea Warrior athletic program accounted for 36 student-athletes making the grade.
Dominican University of California also broke the 30-mark barrier with 32 student-athletes landing on the list, while Brigham Young University Hawaii placed third with 27. Chaminade University of Honolulu and Notre Dame de Namur University each amassed 26 scholar-athletes to share fourth place, and the University of Hawai'i at Hilo was sixth with 24.
Dixie State College of Utah (23), Grand Canyon University (20) and Academy of Art University (10) – which just wrapped up its second year of intercollegiate athletic competition – finished seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.
Women's soccer was, by far, the most dominating sport in terms of representation on the PacWest Academic All-Conference Team.
The sport led the league with 45 names on the list, 18 more than runner-up women's volley (27) and 19 better than third-place softball (26). Women's basketball placed fourth with 23 players, while women's tennis was fifth with 22. Baseball posted 20 players on the lineup.
The PacWest will now choose a scholar-athlete of the year for each of its 11 sports. Each institution has been presented with an opportunity to nominate one student-athlete from each of its athletic programs.
The winners will be announced later in June with a PacWest Men's and Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year selected from the top votegetters in each sport.
