Student athletes come in second place for best GPA in school history with an overall average of 3.215.

To be a great athlete at UND, one must possess the ability to be physically strong enough to excel in their respective fields of play.

While brawn is important, brains are almost more important.

Luckily for Fighting Hawks athletes, that is not a problem.

Recently, UND conducted an assessment of student athletes and their academic standing during the fall 2015 semester.

The results were largely    positive as it was found that this year’s group of athletes do very well in the classroom.

Overall, the athletics department accounted for a 3.215 grade point average which was high enough for second all-time in UND’s history.

The best GPA in school history belongs to the athletes during the fall 2014 semester with a 3.277 GPA.

While these athletes did not set the record, they did enough to impress UND Athletics Director Brian Faison.

“Our student-athletes continue to do an exceptional job in the classroom,” Faison said.

Academic excellence seems to be a trend throughout most of the teams for the Fighting Hawks. Nineteen out of the 21 teams at UND made a 3.0 GPA or higher.

For this semester, the women’s teams did better in the classroom than the men’s teams. The former accounted for a 3.393 grade point average while the latter had a 3.059.

Regardless of what team an athlete plays for, getting good grades at UND can be a challenge and each student will need a little bit of help to make the grade.

“Between balancing training, competition, travel, the classroom, engaging in community service and just being a student at UND. Our student-athletes do it all with the great support of their coaches and our athletics academic support staff,” Faison said.

If a student-athlete achieved a 3.0 GPA or higher, they would find themselves on the Athletics Director’s Honor Roll.

Overall, 71 percent of student athletes at UND made this list.

The football team accounted for 55 students on the list, followed by women’s track and field with 36 athletes and the women’s swim team with 32 members.

There are teams on the list with a fewer amount of players but that can be misleading.

Teams with low amounts of students still did well academically. The men’s golf team had around 71 percent of its players on the list while men’s tennis did just a bit better with 75 percent of the team having a 3.0.

While there are always exceptions, UND student athletes have shown that they prepare themselves in the classrooms as well as in their respective sports.

Alex Stadnik is the sports editor for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected]