Kent State has won the Mid-American Conference's Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) Academic Achievement Award for men's sports for the first time in school history.
The award is given annually and designed to recognize the conference institution with the highest overall combination of both grade point average (GPA) and Academic Progress Rate (APR) rank by gender for the entire academic year.
"I am thrilled with the successes in the classroom of our men's programs this past year leading to this incredible accolade," Randale L. Richmond, director of athletics, said. "We pride ourselves in athletic successes, but equally important is an elite performance in the classroom. I am very proud of the work put in by our talented student-athletes."
Five of Kent State's men's programs posted at least one term GPA above a 3.20 and four teams have a cumulative GPA above a 3.20. Men's golf led the way with the second-highest mark in program history with a 3.762 team grade-point average in the fall term.
Men's basketball closed the academic year strong with the highest term GPA in program history this past spring.
"To earn this award in a year unlike any other for a multitude of reasons is a significant achievement," men's basketball head coach Rob Senderoff said. "I am extremely proud of the commitment to success in the classroom from our student-athletes and appreciate the hard work of our academic support staff throughout the year."
Wrestling also excelled in the classroom during the spring term and posted the second-highest team GPA in program history, while men's track and field earned the second-highest mark in program history in the fall term. Football enters the fall with 21 players who have already earned their undergraduate degree, making the Golden Flashes one of 11 FBS teams with at least 20 graduates.
The MAC also announced that Kent State earned the Institutional Academic Achievement Award, which is presented annually to the conference school with the highest GPA for student-athletes in league-sponsored sports for the academic year.
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