CHARLESTON, S.C. – Following a memorable finish to the spring semester on the baseball diamond, The Citadel Athletics celebrates another competitive term in the classroom as well, closing out the semester with a 3.495 overall GPA -- the highest mark of the past four years -- as a department along with a plethora of individual accolades, including: 61 cadet-athletes notching 4.0s, 112 securing Gold Stars (3.7+) and 110 earning distinction on the Dean's List (3.2+).

"Our student-athletes continue to compete really well in the classroom as well as in their respective sports," Jake Lehr, the Assistant Academics Director for Athletic Programs, said. "Once again, we set a new top GPA from my time here at The Citadel, and I'm proud of the effort this group has put into their academic pursuits. Their hard work and dedication have certainly paid off, and I look forward to tackling a new semester in the fall with the same tenacity."

From a sport-specific perspective, every program at The Citadel wrapped up the five-month period with a team GPA 3.1 or better. On the team leaderboard, women's rifle maintained the top slot behind a 3.884 mark, holding off women's cross country (3.731) and tennis (3.682). Golf (3.622) and soccer (3.611) registered above the 3.6 plateau as well with volleyball (3.549), baseball (3.547) and men's cross country (3.520) all superseding the 3.5 position.

Individually, 255 of the department's 311 cadet- and student-athletes -- good for 82.0 percent -- recorded GPAs of 3.0 or better with 61 notching perfect 4.0s for the term. Of the 61, baseball paced the Bulldogs with 11 representatives followed by tennis with nine. The baseball program also claimed the top mark for Gold Stars with 20 while the football team garnered a department-best 28 on the Dean's List.

Additionally, the department celebrated the graduation of 55 cadet- and student-athletes in early May with 24 collecting academic distinctions, including seven summa cum laude, seven magna cum laude and 10 cum laude.