For the second year in a row and the fourth time overall, UNH won the America East Academic Cup, a measure of student-athletes’ academic success among colleges that compete in the America East Athletics Conference. For the 2015–16 academic year, the university’s Division I student-athletes compiled a conference-best 3.23 grade-point average — matching the school-record-setting GPA they earned last year, when they shared the title with the University of Hartford. Two individual sports also earned highest GPA honors for America East: men’s track and field, at 3.23, and women’s soccer, which notched a conference-best 3.51.?
It’s the second time in the 21-year history of the award that UNH has earned back-to-back titles, having previously claimed the top spot in the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 academic years. Four individual student-athletes were also named America East Presidential Scholar-Athletes for completing their undergraduate degrees with a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or higher. Wildcats to earn this honor included volleyball players Abby Brinkman ’16 and Cassidy Croci ’16 and runners Christopher DeCarlo ’16 and Brendan McCarthy ’16.