Kats Post High Academic Rank in NCAA Bowling
7/26/2015 7:16:00 AM | Women's Bowling
Posting a 3.61 overall team grade point average, Sam Houston's women's bowling squad compiled the third highest academic performance in the nation during the 2014-15 calendar.
The list of the nation's top NCAA women's bowling academic rankings is compiled annually by the National Ten Pins Coaches Association (NTCA). The Bearkats have ranked among the nation's top five each of the past four seasons. Sam Houston's bowlers have combined their academic standing with top performances at the lanes as well.
Since debuting with an NCAA Elite Eight appearance in the program's inaugural season, the Kats have finished each year ranked among the nation's top 10. Sam Houston has reached the NCAA Final Four at the past two national championship tournaments.
LIU-Brooklyn is listed with the top academic performance by the NTCA with a 3.79 team GPA in 2014-15. The Blackbirds are followed by Felician College (3.64) and Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin tied for third at 3.61. Other squads with a GPA above 3.5 included Adelphi (3.56), Saint Francis (3.52) and Maryland Eastern Shore (3.51). A total of 21 teams reached 3.2 cumulative GPAs for the year.
Four members of Sam Houston's No. 5 ranked women's bowling team that reached the NCAA Championships final four for the second year in a row received honors for their performances both on the lanes and in the class room.
Janine Kuwahara is a third team selection and Erin Brown, Anna Groce and Heather Penatzer were honorable mention selections on the 175-player National Ten Pins Coaches Association (NTCA) Academic awards list.
Kuwahara is a business administration major with a perfect 4.00 overall grade point average. She also was named to the 2015 College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) Academic All-District team this spring.
Penatzer is a humanities and social sciences major with a 3.90 overall GPA. Groce holds a 3.75 overall GPA as a health sciences major. Brown, also a health sciences major, owns a 3.67 overall GPA.
With the addition of these four players' awards in 2015, the total of Sam Houston All-NTCA Academic Awards in the five-year history of the program has grown to 22.
