CLEVELAND (Aug. 6, 2021) – Oklahoma Christian had 97 student-athletes earn the Division II Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement Award for the 2020-21 academic year, the highest number in the department's NCAA Division II history.
The list of recipients was announced this week by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. OC ranked second in the total number of honorees among the 18 Lone Star Conference schools, just one behind Texas-Tyler, and second among Oklahoma's 11 Division II institutions, trailing only Oklahoma Baptist with 140.
OC's previous high total of D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award recipients was 85, set during the 2019-20 academic year.
"It is heartening to continue to see our number of student-athletes earning this award continue to rise," said
David Lynn, OC's athletic director. "We consistently emphasize the importance of both academics and athletics and our student-athletes are listening."
The Academic Achievement Award program, in its 14th year, recognizes the academic accomplishments of student-athletes at the Division II level. To qualify for the honor, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.5, have attended a minimum of two years (four semesters) of college-level work and have been an active member of an intercollegiate team during the past academic year.
Nationally, a record 16,262 students from 188 Division II schools were recognized by the D2 ADA. Of those, 878 were from Lone Star Conference schools and 769 came from Division II universities in Oklahoma.
Among OC's teams, men's swimming (12) and baseball (11) had the most honorees. By percentage, women's golf led the way with seven of its 11 players (63.6 percent) making the list. All but one of OC's 15 teams that had athletes eligible for the award had at least two honorees.
"It is incredible to think that our athletes excelled in the classroom despite having to deal with the many stressors associated with COVID-19. To see once again that a record-breaking number of students are recipients of the D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award is simply astonishing," said Bren Stevens, the vice president for athletics at Charleston (W.Va.) and current president of the D2 ADA. "I am extraordinarily impressed by the efforts of our member institutions to ensure that they provide special recognitions for their respective athletes, as they are certainly deserving."
Here is a list of recipients from OC:
