Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Student-athletes handle adversity, break academic records in spring
5/8/2020 3:43:00 PM | General, Big Green Scholarship Foundation, Word on the Herd, Ticketing & Promotions
Thundering Herd has 68 4.0 GPAs, set record for overall GPA
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The circumstances Marshall University student-athletes faced this semester were not ideal.
Winter sports seasons were cut short because of the coronavirus pandemic. Spring sports seasons barely got out of the gate before those championships were scrapped, too. Spring football drills in Huntington were skipped entirely. Meanwhile, away from the fields and courts and tracks and pools, classroom learning shifted online and student-athletes were dispersed. Academics presented a new challenge amidst the turmoil.
So how did Marshall student-athletes respond? According to the end-of-semester grades, the Thundering Herd performed better than ever.
"When we learned in March that the university would be shifting the remainder of the spring semester to an online format, we were worried," said Lisa Williamson, Associate Athletic Director for Academic Services. "Then, combine that with sending our student-athletes home, away from the resources they rely on, we knew we were in for a tough road."
"I remember thinking that when GPAs came out at the end of the semester, we would forever mark them with an asterisk because I feared they could have been the lowest on record. Well, our student-athletes rose to the challenge."
Williamson tracks academic performance, and her records go back to the Spring 2011 semester. In the Fall 2019 semester – which was at the time a record-setting academic performance for Marshall Athletics – 42 student-athletes received a 4.0 grade-point average. In Spring 2020, that number skyrocketed to 68. In Fall 2019, the average term GPA for teams was 3.12, the best in the last eight years (as far back as records date). That number rose to 3.25 in Spring 2020. The overall GPA was 3.12 in Fall 2019 and 3.20 in Spring 2020.
Several sports turned in their best academic performances in years, if not ever:
Women's basketball finished with a 3.34 GPA, the program's highest since Fall 2018 (3.38).
Men's cross country compiled a 3.64 GPA, the best on record.
Women's golf finished with a 3.90 GPA, the program's best GPA ever and the top team GPA in the athletic department.
Men's soccer collected a 3.41 GPA, the best on record.
Women's soccer finished with a 3.49 GPA, the best since Fall 2016 (3.54).
Softball had a 3.46 GPA, the best since Spring 2017 (3.52).
Women's swimming had a 3.81 GPA, the best in program history.
Women's track and field had a 3.39 GPA, the best in program history.
Women's volleyball finished with a 3.65, the best since Spring 2015 (3.67).
The football team also finished with a program-best 2.83 GPA, which means five of 14 MU programs had its best academic performance on record.
Individually, 260 (or 77 percent) of student-athletes earned a semester GPA of 3.0 or higher. A total of 213 student-athletes made the Dean's List (3.3+ GPA in the semester), up from 174 in Fall 2019.
"I am so proud of our student-athletes and how they handled the adversity of this semester," said Mike Hamrick, Marshall's Director of Athletics. "They were dealt a bad hand this semester. They could have let their academics go, but instead they buckled down and focused on what they could control and finished the semester in record-breaking fashion."
All 14 Marshall sports had multiple student-athletes with 4.0 GPAs: Swimming and Diving (12), Women's track and cross country (9), Women's golf (6), Men's soccer (6), Women's tennis (6), Women's soccer (5), Softball (5), Baseball (4), Men's basketball (3), Men's cross country (3), Volleyball (3), Men's golf (2), Women's basketball (2) and Football (2).
The Marshall Athletics academic team at the Buck Harless Student-Athlete Academic Center includes Williamson, Marcella Bisesi and Melissa Robles (football); J.T. Mellendick (baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's soccer, women's soccer and softball); Jordan Colliflower (women's golf, women's cross country, swimming and diving, women's track and volleyball); and Garrett Franskousky (men's cross country, men's golf and tennis).
"We adopted new strategies, utilizing Microsoft Teams to change our tutoring and study halls to an online format," Williamson said. "In the end, we would mark our team GPAs with an asterisk, but it would be because our student-athletes pushed themselves and excelled across the board! Our academic staff and tutors should also be commended for adapting to an uncertain situation and helping our student-athletes come out on top."
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and an eight-time winner of the National Sports Media Association West Virginia Sportswriter of the Year award. In addition to HerdZone.com's Word on the Herd, McGill is the editor of Thundering Herd Illustrated, Marshall's official athletics publication. Follow him on Twitter (@chuckmcgill) and Instagram (wordontheherd).
