June 24, 2008

ORLANDO, Fla. - The University of Maine Athletic Department totaled a 3.10 GPA to finish third in the 2008 America East Academic Cup Standings, which were announced Tuesday evening in Orlando, Fla., at the annual league meeting. The GPA was totaled from the 12 Black Bear teams which compete in America East competition.

Six of those 12 teams finished the 2007-08 year with the highest GPA in their respective sports. That mark was the most for any school in the conference and doubled the total of the second highest school. The six teams who finished with the highest GPA in their sport included: women's basketball (3.26), men's cross country (3.51), women's cross country (3.53), field hockey (3.49), women's indoor track & field (3.34) and volleyball (3.37).

Vermont won the America East Academic Cup with a 3.14 GPA. Both Maine and Vermont shared the Academic Cup in 2007, as they both totaled 3.07 GPAs. Maine has won the America East Academic Cup in two of the last five years, and has finished in the top three of the standings each year during that span. The Black Bears won the 2004 cup with a GPA of 3.12, and produced the same mark the following year (2005) to finish second. Maine earned a 3.11 GPA in 2006, which was also good enough for second place.

More than 3,200 student-athletes competed at nine America East institutions in the 2007-08 season. The conference's student-athletes compiled an average of 3.02 on the team GPAs, which were calculated by dividing the total team quality points by the total credits complete for grade. The overall institutional GPAs were calculated using the same formula for all student-athletes at each respective school.

For more information on Maine Athletics, please visit the department's official website, www.GoBlackBears.com(.)