June 11, 2008

FAIRBANKS, AK - Alaska Nanook student-athletes are giving the athletic department good reason to cheer after achieving their highest cumulative grade point average ever in the 2007-08 academic year. University of Alaska Fairbanks Director of Athletics Forrest Karr announced Wednesday that the student-athletes for the 10 sports programs posted a 3.21 cumulative GPA.

The athletic department GPA of 3.21 rose from the 3.17 cumulative mark set in the 2006-07 school year. This fall the Nanook student-athletes averaged 13.27 credit hours while achieving a 3.16 GPA and improved to a 3.27 in the spring when they averaged 13.04 credit hours.

The most impressive trend has been the rise in the department's GPA during the spring semester over the past three seasons (2005-2008). In the spring of 2005 Nanook student-athletes had a 2.97 GPA, which leaped to a 3.17 in the spring of 2006, and took another rise in the Spring of 2007, when the all time high of 3.27 was set: a record they equaled this Spring (2008).

From 2002-2005 the first semester's GPA was always better than the second, a fact Karr attributed to a heavier travel schedules and team commitments as each of the programs progressed through their conference and post-season schedules.

"Our coaches have done a great job of keeping student-athletes focused on academics through the entire spring semester," said Karr. "The last three years have truly been exceptional. I keep wondering if they can possibly do better, and they continue to impress."

In total, 37 student-athletes were recognized with conference all-academic honors throughout the season. The women's volleyball team had a conference high seven players named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's All-Academic team in the fall. The women's swimming team repeated its academic prowess, earning team academic All-American honors for the second straight season.

In addition to the team accolades, skiing teammates Marius Korthauer and Vahur Teppan achieved program firsts, as they were selected to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America At-Large first and second teams, respectively.

For the year, 76 of the 112 Nanooks maintained a 3.0 or B average through two semesters: more than 65 percent of the department's student-athletes.

Nineteen Nanooks achieved perfect 4.0 GPAs during the year (in one or both semesters), accounting for almost 17 percent of the athletic department's student-athletes. The list includes: Chris Eversman (MCC), Elisabeth Habermann (WCC/SKI), Jennifer Holland (WVB), Trevor Hyatt (HKY), Jenna Jones (WVB), Brandon Knelsen (HKY), Dion Knelsen (HKY), Erik Largen (HKY), Grace Milliken (WBB), Bryant Molle (HKY), Dustin Molle (HKY), Ryan Muspratt (HKY), Alex Morris (MCC), Christofer Olofsson (RIF), Jordan Pernarowski (HKY), Andreas Schnitzer (MCC/SKI), Vahur Teppan (MCC/SKI), Charles Whitmer (RIF) and Beth Zirbes (WCC).