Belles Squads Earn MIAA Team GPA Award Recognition
FREELAND, Mich. - The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) academic honors continued to roll in for the Saint Mary's Department of Athletics as several programs were named to the MIAA Team GPA Award list for the 2016-17 academic year.
For the second consecutive year, seven of the eight Belles teams picked up MIAA Team GPA Award honors for boasting a 3.3 cumulative GPA or above for the academic year. The teams receiving recognition were softball (3.633 GPA), golf (3.504), tennis (3.503), volleyball (3.480), soccer (3.389), basketball (3.388), and cross country (3.365). Additionally, all eight Saint Mary's varsity programs carried a cumulative GPA over 3.0 for the 2016-17 academic year.
In total, 89 men's and women's varsity programs were recognized by the MIAA for the academic honor this year. The Belles softball team's 3.633 was the best among MIAA softball programs and was the eleventh-highest GPA among all 89 teams honored. Moreover, each of the nine women's soccer programs in the league were on the 2016-17 list, marking the only sport of the conference's 22 sponsored sports to have every team represented.
| Sport | Team GPA | Head Coach |
| Basketball | 3.388 | Melissa Makielski |
| Cross Country | 3.365 | Jackie Bauters |
| Golf | 3.504 | Kim Moore |
| Soccer | 3.389 | Jesse Urquhart |
| Softball | 3.633 | Kelli Zache |
| Tennis | 3.503 | Dale Campbell |
| Volleyball | 3.480 | Denise Van De Walle |