Student-athlete GPAs rise

Fresno State student-athletes in 2003-04 posted the highest academic standard in eight years, -- a 2.91 GPA – marking the first time Bulldog Student-Athletes as a whole surpassed the 2.9 mark.

"This is a great tribute to our student-athletes, coaches and staff," said Athletics Director Scott Johnson. "We have long celebrated the athletic accomplishments of our outstanding student-athletes, but I hope our community will celebrate with great pride the outstanding accomplishments they have achieved as students. This is more important than winning any championship.”

Additionally, 10 of Fresno State's 18 teams posted a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for the year, the most in a single year since Fresno State began tracking team GPAs in 1996.

Achieving a 3.0 or better for the year were the sports of: baseball, men's golf, men's soccer, men's track and field, men's tennis, women's tennis, swimming and diving, equestrian, women's track and field and volleyball.

Nearly 270 Bulldog student-athletes were honored in the 2004 Torch of Excellence Dinner in April for producing a GPA of 3.0 or better for the spring and fall of 2003.

Fresno State's 63 Academic All-WAC selections in 2003-04 ranked third amongst all of the WAC schools. More than 20 Bulldog freshmen earned WAC All-Academic honors, second-most in the WAC. Fresno State's baseball and women's tennis teams led their respective sports in Academic All-WAC honorees, while football, men's track and field and the women's track and field teams ranked second among their WAC peers.