July 21, 2008

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Notre Dame had six of its 21 teams that compete in BIG EAST sports recognized with the 2007-08 BIG EAST Team Academic Excellence Awards recognizing the highest collective grade averages in each conference sport. The Fighting Irish men's basketball, women's lacrosse, men's tennis, women's tennis, men's indoor track and field and men's outdoor track and field teams were all recipients of the inaugural awards.

Notre Dame led the way with a total of six teams honored, while eight BIG EAST schools had at least one team honored. Cincinnati was second with five teams recognized, followed by DePaul (four), Seton Hall (three), Syracuse (two) and Louisville and Rutgers with one each. The winners were chosen based on the 2007-08 grade-point average of each student-athlete that appears on an institution's squad list in a particular sport.

In addition to having the highest combined grade point average, the Irish men's tennis, women's tennis and men's outdoor track and field teams also won BIG EAST Championships as Notre Dame won seven during the '07-'08 school year. Twenty of Notre Dame's 21 BIG EAST teams earned a better than 3.00 cumulative grade point average during the past academic year.

The women's tennis team finished with 3.496, the highest of any Irish squad, while the men's tennis team earned a 3.411. The men's outdoor track and field team registered a 3.228 while the women's lacrosse team, which finished second in the final BIG EAST regular-season standings, tied with Rutgers with a cumulative 3.176 grade index.

The men's basketball tied with tied with Louisville for second in the regular-season standings, finished with a 3.097, while men's indoor track and field teams finished with a 3.228.

2007-08 BIG EAST Team Excellence Award Winners
Baseball - Georgetown
Men's Basketball - NOTRE DAME
Women's Basketball - DePaul
Men's Cross Country - Cincinnati
Women's Cross Country - DePaul
Field Hockey - Louisville
Football - Cincinnati
Men's Golf - Seton Hall
Women's Golf - Cincinnati
Women's Lacrosse - NOTRE DAME and Rutgers
Women's Rowing - Georgetown
Men's Soccer - DePaul
Women's Soccer - Seton Hall
Softball - Seton Hall
Men's Swimming and Diving - Georgetown
Women's Swimming and Diving - Cincinnati
Men's Tennis - NOTRE DAME
Women's Tennis - NOTRE DAME and DePaul
Men's Indoor Track and Field - NOTRE DAME
Women's Indoor Track and Field - Cincinnati
Men's Outdoor Track and Field - NOTRE DAME
Women's Outdoor Track and Field - Syracuse
Volleyball - Syracuse