Sixteen of Biola University’s athletic teams have earned the prestigious title of “scholar team” from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) — the most teams of any school in the nation.

For the awards, announced on July 27, NAIA recognized a record 857 teams from across the country with a 3.0 team GPA or higher, based on a 4.0 scale. The team grade point average includes all varsity student-athletes certified as eligible. Biola and Hastings College (Neb.) shared the top honor with 16 teams represented. It was the second consecutive season that the Eagles had 16 teams represented.

"We are once again impressed with the academic performance of our student-athletes," said Biola Athletic Director Dave Holmquist. "Biola has a strong academic tradition with rigorous requirements found at few other schools. For us to have two consecutive years with 16 teams represented is remarkable."

Biola's women's soccer team and the women's cross country team each led the way with an impressive 3.55 team GPA, followed by women's outdoor track and field (3.52), women's indoor track and field (3.51) and men's tennis (3.50).

Biola's other scholar teams were women's basketball (3.41), women's tennis (3.39), volleyball (3.39), women's swimming (3.37), men's cross country (3.36), men's outdoor track and field (3.31), men's indoor track and field (3.27), men's basketball (3.18), men's swimming (3.13), men's golf (3.13), and women's softball (3.00).

Biola had 49 NAIA Scholar-Athletes this year, among the most in school history. The honor is given to student-athletes who have a cumulative 3.5 GPA and have acheived either junior or senior status. Women's soccer had the most with six scholar-athletes while men's track and field, women's basketball, women's track and field and volleyball each had five.

Written by Jenna Bartlo, Media Relations Coordinator. Jenna can be reached at (562) 777-4061 or through email at .