Dear Bobcat Nation –
There comes a time when you reflect on the past year and think about the great successes and achievements made/achieved by our student-athletes, coaches, staff and department. For me it is when the school year has ended, graduation is but a memory and the dust has settled on another academic year.
The women’s soccer team punched the program’s first-ever ticket to the NCAA Tournament this past fall.
And while doing reports for different groups on campus, I am still quite proud of the fact we had our five fall sports teams make the NCAA Tournament, our basketball teams both made the Conference Carolinas Tournament and the rebuilding efforts of our spring sports.
But, something even better stands out to me and I must share it with you and shout it from the mountaintop.
We had 162 student-athletes make the Conference Carolinas Presidential Honor Roll! To make this list one must have a grade point average of at least 3.20. To place this into a proper perspective, over 60% of our student-athletes had over a 3.2 GPA.
I will give you more numbers to give you an idea of the great and rewarding success this is. We had 10 teams with over a 3.0 GPA in the spring semester, our busiest. We also had 10 teams who have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0.
For the fall we had a 2.95 GPA; then a 3.01 in the spring to give us a cumulative grade point average of 2.98!!!
Taking into account that these teams are practicing, competing and traveling 20 hours a week, this is a tribute to hard work and dedication. I would be foolish not to mention the great work of our Challenging Athletes to Success (CATS) program and how it has helped with time management, writing, math and general study skills.
So as you think about this special place in the mountains of western North Carolina, realize this: we put more emphasis on the classroom success than we do the great athletic accomplishments as we prepare young people for a prosperous life after their days in Banner Elk.
Have a great summer.
Best wishes
Craig
