By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University men's and women's swimming teams have earned Scholar All-America Team honors from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) as a result of their success in the classroom during the spring 2018 semester. Throughout the nation 710 teams from 476 colleges and universities in NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, the NAIA and the NJCAA qualified for Scholar All-America Team recognition.

Willamette competes in NCAA Division III. The Bearcats also participate in the Northwest Conference.

"Both of our squads ended up on the list after setting higher grade point averages than they did in the fall," Willamette Head Coach Leslie Shevlin said. It was the eighth consecutive semester that both of Willamette's teams qualified for the award.

The Scholar All-America honor goes to programs earning team GPAs of 3.0 or higher during the semester. The Bearcat women's team registered a 3.44 combined GPA during the spring. The Willamette men's team finished the semester with a 3.35 combined GPA.

Willamette was one of six women's teams in the Northwest Conference to receive Scholar All-America recognition. The Bearcat men's team was one of five teams in the NWC to gain Scholar All-America status.

At the 2018 NWC Championships, Bearcat swimmers earned a total of 22 All-NWC honors. Willamette set four school records during the championships. Records were set in the women's 100-yard breaststroke, women's 100-yard butterfly, men's 1,650-yard freestyle, and men's 200-yard individual medley.

Transylvania University (Ky.) led NCAA Division III in women's team GPA and California Institute of Technology ranked first in Division III in men's team GPA. Transylvania owned a women's team GPA of 3.79. The men's team GPA at Caltech was 3.63.