ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — In the face of unprecedented challenges, Henderson State's student-athletes shattered the department's previous record grade point average this spring semester and finished with an astounding 3.33 cumulative GPA for the school's 14 athletic teams.

The mark of 3.33 easily surpasses the previous high GPA of 3.07 which was set in the spring of 2019 and gives Henderson's athletic department seven-straight semesters with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Perhaps even more impressively, the 2020 spring semester marks the first time in school history that all 14 athletic programs finished with team GPAs of 3.0 or better. 

"I often find myself talking about how proud I am of our student-athletes at Henderson, but to simply say I'm proud would not do justice to what our student-athletes have accomplished this spring," athletic director Shawn Jones said. "For a department of 14 teams to all finish with GPAs of 3.0 or above in a semester, especially when considering the difficult circumstances all of our students, faculty and staff were faced with this year, is nothing short of remarkable."

In total, 62 student-athletes had perfect 4.0s and 92 others had GPAs of 3.5 or better. The highest team GPA overall was volleyball with a 3.73, while baseball had the best mark of any men's program with a 3.3. 

"I want to thank all of our coaches for their diligence and support of our student-athletes, as well as our faculty who exhausted so much time and effort into working with all of our students at Henderson this semester in challenging circumstances," Jones said. "I would also like to say a special thank you to Chanda Hooten, who oversees our academic advising for student-athletes and has been instrumental to our department's academic successes. This is truly a special achievement that should make Reddies everywhere proud."

2020 SPRING GPAs
Volleyball - 3.73
Tennis - 3.71
Cross Country - 3.69
Women's Golf - 3.67
Women's Swimming - 3.61
Women's Basketball - 3.57
Softball - 3.55
Baseball - 3.3
Men's Golf - 3.29
Cheer - 3.26
Men's Swimming - 3.22
Football - 3.17
Pom - 3.09
Men's Basketball - 3.05