WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The grades are in and West Liberty University's student-athletes have once again extended their impressive streak of academic success with an outstanding fall semester in the classroom.
    The 497 Hilltoppers populating WLU's 18 intercollegiate sports rosters for the 2021-22 academic year posted a combined 3.17 GPA for the fall. That marks the seventh consecutive semester that West Liberty's student-athletes have achieved a combined GPA of 3.00 or higher.
    It was a broad-based success story as 15 of the Hilltoppers' 18 teams surpassed the 3.00 mark as a group with five of them hitting combined GPAs in excess of 3.50. Those numbers put a smile on the face of West Liberty athletic director Lynn Ullom.
    "I am thrilled to once again be congratulating our student-athletes on a job well done," Ullom said. "In addition, I would be remiss if I did not thank our coaches, staff and faculty for their commitment to making the academic success of our student-athletes a priority. This has truly been a team effort."
    Taken as a whole, the department's fall academic totals were quite impressive. Of those 497 student-athletes, 314 checked in with GPAs of 3.00 or higher, 220 were at 3.50 or better and 121 – nearly 25 percent – charted perfect 4.00s. All three of those totals are school records.
    The regionally-ranked women's tennis team led the way with a combined 3.70 GPA. Nine of Coach Heather Gallagher's 10 student-athletes posted GPAs of 3.50 or higher with six of them achieving perfect 4.00s.
    The women's golf team was No. 2 on the list with a 3.67 combined GPA. Six of Coach Shane Rice's female linksters checked in at 3.00 or higher with five of the seven topping 3.50 and three at 4.00. Women's soccer also had an impressive semester, achieving a combined 3.66 GPA while in season. Twenty-nine of Coach Barry Christmas' 32 student-athletes finished at 3.00 or better with 24 at 3.50 or higher and 14 achieving perfect 4.00 GPAs.
    Women's track had the most perfect 4.00 GPAs with 15, followed closely by women's soccer (14), softball (13) and baseball (13). Softball led the way at the 3.50 level with 25 student-athletes equaling or surpassing that mark. Women's soccer (24) was a close second with baseball (22) in third.
    Along with the impressive team numbers, several Hilltopper student-athletes received regional and national recognition during the fall semester for their academic and athletic achievements.
    West Liberty graduate Dalton Bolon was honored in September as the D2CCA National Scholar-Athlete of the Year after helping lead Coach Ben Howlett's men's basketball team to another Atlantic Region championship and NCAA D2 Elite Eight berth.
    The National Fast Pitch Coaches Association honored WLU's two-time MEC softball champions as an Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete Team. No less than 21 of Coach Herb Minch's players were named Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athletes – one of the highest totals in the nation for any team. In addition, women's soccer goalkeeper Olivia Montgomery was one of only five MEC women's soccer players to earn NCAA Division II Academic All-District honors from CoSIDA.
    Here's a complete list of the Hilltopper teams that reached or surpassed the 3.00 GPA mark during the fall semester: Women's Tennis (3.70), Women's Golf (3.67), Women's Soccer (3.66), Women's Cross Country (3.61), Volleyball (3.60), Softball (3.49), Women's Basketball (3.48), Men's Tennis (3.43), Women's Track and Field (3.41), Men's Cross Country (3.36), Acrobatics & Tumbling (3.33), Wrestling (3.28), Men's Basketball (3.19), Baseball (3.16), Men's Track and Field (3.00).