By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University Athletics has announced the Academic Teams of the Year and Senior Scholar-Athlete Award winners for 2020-21. The team winners are women's swimming and men's cross country, while the individual winners are Sarah Dean (Sr., Boise, ID/Timberline HS) from women's tennis and Luke Hiserman (Sr., Monterey, CA/Pacific Grove HS) from men's tennis.

The Academic Team of the Year Award is presented to the men's and women's teams who collectively excel in the classroom and earn the highest cumulative team grade point average through the fall semester. The Senior Scholar-Athlete Awards go to the men's and women's student-athletes who excel through the physical and time-management rigors of academics and athletics. The recipients are the student-athletes who have achieved the highest cumulative GPA through the fall semester.

While earning the Academic Team of the Year honor, the Willamette women's swimming team achieved a 3.68 cumulative GPA. The men's cross country team attained a 3.60 cumulative GPA to secure its Academic Team of the Year recognition.

Dean majored in Politics, Policy, Law, and Ethics as well as Spanish. She minored in American Ethnic Studies. While playing for the Bearcats from 2017-18 through 2020-21, Dean competed in 51 singles matches and 49 doubles matches in dual meets. She reached the consolation final in the singles bracket at the Ojai Tournament in 2018-19. She played in 12 singles matches and 11 doubles matches this season.

Hiserman majored in Environmental Science while completing a minor in Economics. He played in a total of 45 singles matches and 44 doubles matches in dual meets during the past four seasons. In 2020-21, Hiserman competed in 13 singles matches and 13 doubles matches.