Covenant News

North Park Women's Soccer Team Earns Academic Honors

CHICAGO, IL (February 12, 2004) - The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) recently honored the North Park University (NPU) women's soccer program with a "Team Academic Award" for Division III schools.

Last year's Vikings posted a team grade point average of 3.40 (on a 4.0 scale) during the 2002-03 season, which put them ahead of all but 22 Division III women's soccer programs, said head coach Erin Leinweber. It was the second straight year the team earned the honor. This year's squad is pretty intelligent too - the cumulative team grade point average was 3.14.

Three NPU women's soccer players have earned College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) All-Academic awards during the past three fall seasons. They include Stacy Beukhof (2001), Marit Johnson (2002) and Katie Rose (2003). More about Johnson and Rose can be found in recent articles posted on www.covchurch.org.

The men's soccer team at the school has also made its mark academically. The team grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) for the fall semester was 3.26 and the squad's overall cumulative grade point average is 3.11, said head coach John Born. Greger Svensson was an All-Academic selection for the conference for the 2002 fall season.

The CCIW has selected All-Academic Teams to recognize and honor student athletes who demonstrate excellence in the classroom and in intercollegiate competition. Each member school nominates one male and one female for each sport conducted in each sports season (fall, winter and spring).

To be eligible for nomination, an athlete must have an overall grade point average of 3.20 or better at the beginning of the season. Each member institution is responsible for the process it uses to make nominations. Conference All-Academic teams have been selected since the 1991-92 academic year.

More about the NPU women's and men's soccer programs can be found on www.northpark.edu under the Athletics link.

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