SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Halfway through the academic and athletic year, Augustana student-athletes continue to set the bar in the classroom. 277, or close to 67% of all student-athletes, achieved a fall semester grade-point average (GPA) above a 3.0.  The over 400 student-athletes posted a combined GPA of 3.19 raising their cumulative (over their academic career) GPA to 3.25.  

Augustana Director of Athletics Josh Morton is impressed by the program's commitment to excellence both on and off the field. "I'm extremely proud of our student-athletes and their work in the classroom," Morton said. "It speaks to the culture within our department and all over campus. As a Viking, their experience as a student-athlete is about more than just competition, it's about the classroom and community as well. Our students are challenged every day at Augustana, so to post those grades while also consistently finishing in the top 20 of the Learfield DII Directors' Cup speaks volumes." 

The women's basketball led the way with a GPA of 3.61.  Overall, 70 student-athletes posted a 3.75 GPA or higher and 32 Vikings had a perfect 4.0.   

Recently, Augustana led the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) with 73 academic All-NSIC selections. Senior cross country runner Leah Seivert won the NSIC's Elite 18 Award for the highest GPA among competitors at the conference meet, while football senior Kirby Hora was named the Google Cloud Academic All-America football student-athlete for all of Division II.  Both Hora and Seivert had perfect 4.0 GPA's this fall.