Storm women post No. 2 GPA in Division III, men also honored

INDIANOLA, Iowa – The Simpson women's track and field team posted one of the highest team GPAs in the nation as both the women's and men's squads earned All-Academic Team honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for the 2014-15 academic year.

The women's team posted an eye-popping 3.64 cumulative grade point average in 2014-15, the second-best in Division III. The Storm were just one-hundredth of a point behind Division III leader Saint Vincent, which posted a 3.65 GPA.

Simpson's effort was the sixth highest in all divisions and the best in head coach Dave Cleveland's tenure at Simpson.

The men's team posted a 3.15 cumulative GPA, making Simpson one of just three schools in the Iowa Conference to have both the men's and women's team qualify.  

Both genders have earned the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team Award in each of Cleveland's 10 seasons at the helm, dating back to the 2005-06 academic year. The Storm have also had at least one national qualifier in each of those 10 seasons. Bayley Fleshner (100-meter hurdles) and Dylan Kalinay (110-meter hurdles) represented the Storm at outdoor nationals in 2015.

In all, 170 women's teams and 99 men's teams earned the All-Academic Team distinction by posting at least a 3.10 team GPA.