FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Thursday, July 16, 2015 MSUB women finish third in GNAC Academic All-Sports standings; Yellowjacket baseball, women’s XC No. 1 MSUB’s women’s sports teams combine to finish in third place in the GNAC Academic All-Sports standings, and the Yellowjackets’ baseball and women’s cross country teams are top in the conference for the 2014-15 academic year. PORTLAND, Ore. – Women’s teams from Montana State University Billings Athletics combined to post the third-best grade point average in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and the Yellowjackets’ baseball and women’s cross country teams were the top squads in their sports in the conference’s 2014-15 Academic All-Sports standings released on Thursday. MSUB, which had won the previous three women’s Academic All-Sports trophies, had two teams lead their respective sports across the conference. The Yellowjackets’ women’s cross country team joined MSUB’s baseball team in leading the way, and MSUB’s women’s basketball team (3rd) was also in the top-3 for its sport. Overall, MSUB’s women’s athletic teams collected 71 points, finishing tied with Central Washington, four points ahead of fifth-place Saint Martin’s (67), and 11 points behind second-place Seattle Pacific (82). The academic all-sports standings are based on cumulative grade point averages of all the athletes on the official team rosters including redshirts. Points are awarded on two-point increments. MSUB’s baseball team led the conference with a cumulative 3.23 grade point average, finishing well ahead of second-place Northwest Nazarene (2.97). The Yellowjackets led GNAC baseball teams with nine players garnering academic all-conference honors this season. In women’s cross country, MSUB tied Western Washington for the highest team GPA at 3.54. Three Yellowjackets – Renae Hepfner, Nocona Frame, and Rio Frame – were all USTFCCCA Academic All-Region selections this season. The Yellowjackets’ women’s basketball team totaled a GPA of 3.41, finishing only behind Seattle Pacific (3.58) and Northwest Nazarene (3.46) among the 10 teams in their sport. Rio Frame, one of three Academic AllRegion picks for MSUB XC.
Northwest Nazarene won both the men’s and women’s Academic All-Sports trophies, with Crusader men’s teams collecting 76 points and their women’s teams collecting 88 (164 total). --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--