Record 74 Student-Athletes Earn Division 2 Athletics Directors Association Academic Honors

More than 70 Vulcan student-athletes have been honored for their academic prowess by the Division 2 Athletics Directors Association.

The association recently announced the 2021-22 recipients of its Academic Achievement awards, and a record 74 University of Hawai‘i at Hilo student-athletes earned recognition.

In its 15th year, the program honors Division II student-athletes with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale, who completed at least two years of college-level work and have been active members of an intercollegiate team during the last academic year.

In total, there were 16,639 student-athletes from 169 institutions who earned the academic award this year — the most student-athletes recognized since the inception of the award’s program.

“Our student-athletes continue to make us proud with their success in the classroom,” Pat Guillen, UH-Hilo director of athletics, said in a press release. “The demands that they face in regards to travel while representing UH-Hilo, the state of Hawai‘i and our Big Island community is greater than any program in the country. Despite these demands, they continue to excel in their academics and on the field. Well done!”

Last year, 62 Vulcan student-athletes received the honor.

“Congratulations to all of the student-athlete recipients of the distinguished (Division 2 Athletics Directors Association) Academic Achievement Award,” Kim Pate, vice president for athletics at Lenoir-Rhyne University and current president of the association, said in the press release. “It’s been so impressive to see the number of student-athlete’s recognized for their stellar performance in the classroom grow to record numbers year to year since the inception of this award. This a reflection our member institution’s commitment to ensuring special recognition of the academic success of so many well-deserving student-athletes.”

The Vulcans ranked No. 6 out of the 10 schools in the Pacific West Conference that had student-athletes honored with the award. As a whole, the PacWest finished sixth among the other Division II conferences.

Since the inception of the award program in 2007-08, a total of 127,854 student-athletes have been recognized for their academic achievements at the Division II level.

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