University of Vermont, whose student-athletes maintained a 3.14 grade-point average, has been awarded the 2004-05 America East Academic Cup. It is the highest grade-point average in the 10-year history of the award, breaking the mark of 3.12 set by University of Maine during the 2003-04 academic year. Vermont, which also won the Academic Cup in the inaugural year (1995-96) of the award, joins University of New Hampshire and Binghamton University as the only two-time winners.
Maine (3.12), University of Hartford (3.08) and New Hampshire (3.04) were other institutions to compile grade-point averages of 3.00 or better in 2004-05. Stony Brook University (2.98), Binghamton (2.96), University at Albany (2.90), Northeastern University (2.89), Boston University (2.88) and UMBC (2.87) rounded out the America East institutions.
Vermont fielded teams in 16 of the 22 sports sponsored by the conference during the 2004-05 academic year and saw 14 of those teams post grade-point averages of 3.0 or better. The Catamounts had six sport leaders, including women's cross country, whose 3.52 grade-point average was the highest of any of the 175 conference teams. The three-time America East men's basketball champions led that sport with a 3.04 grade-point average. Other team winners for the Catamounts were the women's basketball (3.20), men's lacrosse (2.84), women's swimming and diving (3.32) and men's indoor track and field (3.05) programs.
Vermont’s student-athletes are part of the nearly 3,500 student-athletes who competed at 10 America East institutions. The conference’s student-athletes compiled a 2.98 grade-point average for the 2004-05 academic year.
Maine's men's cross country team (3.37 grade-point average) joined Vermont's men's basketball team as the only to win an America East championship and post the highest grade-point average among the conference's teams.
Other sport winners were: baseball, Binghamton (3.01); field hockey, Maine (3.31); men's golf, Hartford (3.24); women’s golf, Albany (3.45); women’s lacrosse, Stony Brook (3.09); men’s soccer, Hartford (3.25); women’s soccer, Hartford (3.46); softball, Hartford (3.23); men’s swimming and diving, New Hampshire, (3.21); men’s tennis, Stony Brook (3.16); women's tennis, UMBC (3.25); women’s indoor track and field, New Hampshire (3.31); men’s outdoor track and field, Maine (3.06); women’s outdoor track and field, New Hampshire (3.28); and volleyball, Maine (3.40).
The Academic Cup, established by the America East Board of Directors in 1995, is presented to the institution whose student-athletes post the highest grade-point averages during that academic year. The grade-point averages of all student-athletes who compete in the 22 championship sports sponsored by America East are averaged to determine the winner.
Hartford was the winner in 1996-97. New Hampshire won the Academic Cup in 1998-99 and 1999-2000. Binghamton won the Academic Cup in its first two years in the conference (2001-02, 2002-03).