WBCA Recognizes Mount Marty and Two Other South Dakota Schools for Academic Excellence

ATLANTA - The Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced its winners for the 2007-08 Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll Monday. This award, given in NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA and Junior College/Community College, awards teams throughout the nation that carry the highest grade point averages (GPA) for the entire season based on the nomination submitted by WBCA-member head coaches.
The South Dakota schools listed were:
            NCAA I           South Dakota State University, coached by Aaron Johnston
            NCAA II         University of South Dakota, coached by Chad Lavin
            NAIA              Mount Marty College, coached by Chuck Iverson
For Mount Marty, this was the 11th year in a row to be featured among the top 25 in their division and the 13th time in the 14-year history of the award.  It also marks the fifth year in a row that the team has been mentioned among the best teams in the country in both basketball and academics.
"I would like to say congratulations to each and every one of these teams for producing some impressive cumulative grade point averages," said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. "These numbers would be notable for one student-athlete alone, but for an entire team to compile overall GPAs such as this is truly remarkable. I tip my hat to these programs and wish continued success both on and off the court."
Mount Marty head women’s basketball coach, Chuck Iverson, applauded the achievement of his team. “I am very proud of these young ladies. They have represented Mount Marty College, the athletic program, and the basketball team with class on and off the floor. It has been an honor for me to have been able to coach them. I think this is another great example of what athletics is about at Mount Marty.  Athletes are true student-athletes. And in addition to the efforts and time commitment of the student-athletes, they are very active in leadership roles and activities on the campus and in the community.”

GPAs are calculated by dividing the total number of quality points earned by each student-athlete on an institution's roster in the given academic terms by the total number of hours earned by the team. The GPAs are rounded to the nearest thousandth of a point. Per a motion passed by the WBCA Board of Directors in 2007, teams making the list of Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll must obtain at least a 3.000 overall GPA. 
The GPAs posted by the South Dakota schools were 3.669 for SDSU, 3.649 for USD and 3.603 for Mount Marty College. These grade points allowed SDSU and USD to top their respective divisions.  Mount Marty placed fourth nation wide in the NAIA division.

Mount Marty College
College Relations Office
1105 West 8th Street
Yankton, SD 57078
(605) 668-1517
mmc.college.relations@mtmc.edu