VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State athletic department put together one of its strongest spring semesters academically in program history in 2023.
"We certainly had a great semester in the classroom and I am proud of our coaches and the student-athletes," VSU Director of Athletics Herb Reinhard said. "We understandably concentrate on our teams wins and losses on the field and the court. These academic results constitute an important win and we all should be proud."
For the semester, a total of 189 student-athletes achieved a 3.0 grade-point average or better marking the third-highest figure, while there were 39 student-athletes with a perfect 4.0 GPA for the most all-time.
As a whole, the athletic department had over a 3.0 cumulative GPA as a department for just the second time in department history as ten programs were at a 3.0 or better for the spring. Men's tennis led the way with a 3.64 GPA for the semester, as the team went 21-1 and reached the NCAA National Semifinals this season. A total of 77 student-athletes were named to the Dean's List, marking the fourth-highest total. A total of 39 student-athletes earned a perfect 4.0 GPA for the semester, while 12 were multi-semester 4.0 student-athletes with Logan Kraus (MXC), Morgan Hill (SB) and Grace Beyer (WBB) registering their fourth semester of a 4.0.
Men's Tennis standout Luca Mack and women's tennis student-athlete Natalie Kohoutkova were named Men's and Women's Tennis Championship Scholar-Athletes, while Mack earned the prestigious honor of being named GSC Top Ten and a finalist for the Commissioner's Trophy. Kraus and Hill were named VSU Student-Athlete Academic Award honorees for the 2022-23 school year.
As for the 2023 Academic All District ® as selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC), Mack and senior Christian Felline earned Academic All-District honors for men's tennis, while Kohoutkova earned the honor for women's tennis, Hill and junior Taylor Macera were named for softball and senior Brandon Raiden was named for baseball.
The Fall 2022 semester had eight programs over a 3.0 GPA with the department GPA at a 2.84. A total of 179 student-athletes had over a 3.0 and 24 were over a 4.0 while 62 earned Dean's List honors. Men's tennis had the highest GPA in the fall with a 3.67.
Kraus, along with Victor Talley, Torren Calhoun and Brett Buckridge of football each earned Academic All-GSC in the Fall, while 60 Blazers were named Academic Honor Roll for the first semester.
The Spring semester GSC Academic Honor Roll and Academic All-GSC have not been released yet.
