Skyhawks recognized for having highest team GPA in the Conference
It marks the first Academic Team Excellence Award for the field hockey program at Stonehill, but the fifth for the athletic department in the three years the NE-10 has honored the teams with the highest team grade point average in each of the Conference's 23 championship sports. Stonehill's women's soccer team earned the honors each of the first two years, while women's indoor and outdoor track and field each received the honors for the 2009-10 academic year. 57-percent of the teams in the NE-10 posted an average grade point average of at least 3.0.
Field hockey earns the honors having achieved a team grade point average of 3.394 for the 2011-2012 academic year. It marks the second time in the last two seasons the program has been recognized for its efforts in the classroom as the Skyhawks were rewarded for having the top team GPA at the 2009 NCAA Division II Championships at the Division II Championships Festival in Louisville, Ky.
16 members of the field hockey team have boasted cumulative GPA's of 3.00 or better, led by sophomore Kelly Gouveia (Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) who received the St. Thomas Aquinas medal this spring for having the highest cumulative GPA on the team. Recent graduate Laura Menke (Greenland, N.H./St. Thomas Aquinas) and Gouveia each recorded perfect 4.0 GPA's during the fall and spring semesters, respectively. Menke and first team All-American Kathryn Nelson (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) represented the program on the NE-10 Academic All-Conference field hockey team as well this past fall. Nelson also received the Edward E. Martin Female Scholar-Athlete Award at the College's senior student-athlete banquet in May.
13 members of the field hockey team were named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for having a 3.30 GPA or better during the fall semester, while 17 earned NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll status for having a 3.0 GPA or better during the fall semester.
Stonehill made its 14th-straight postseason appearances last fall, completing its season with a 10-10 record overall, including a 4-6 mark in Northeast-10 play. The Skyhawks open their 2012 season on Saturday, September 1, when they host perennial national power Bloomsburg University at W.B. Mason Stadium at 1 p.m.