EMU Student-Athletes Turn in Another Award Winning Season

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — It was another record-setting season in both athletics and academics for Eastern Michigan University student-athletes in 2016-17.

The Eagles finished near the top in the battle for the Mid-American Conference all-sports championships. The women's athletic program turned in a fourth-place showing in the race for the Jacoby Trophy, while the men's athletic program also finished fourth in the battle for the Reese Trophy.

It marked just the third time since 1999-2000 that Eastern Michigan placed inside the top-four spots in both standings. Last year, EMU was the runner-up for the Jacoby while taking fourth in the Reese standings. The other time occurred in 2013-14 when the Green and White were third on the women's side and fourth on the men's.

Eastern Michigan won its second consecutive women's cross country title while adding second-place finishes in both women's indoor track & field and women's outdoor track & field. Meanwhile, gymnastics claimed its first regular season championship and followed it up by capturing the league's tournament title for the second year in a row. Women's swimming & diving finished as the runner-up at the championships for third consecutive season.

On the men's side, the cross country team notched its 21st MAC title, while the men's swimming & diving team brought home its conference-leading 34th championship. Both men's indoor track & field and men's outdoor track & field also finished as the runner-up at their respective championships.

Coupled with five Mid-American Conference team titles and 29 individual MAC championships, the 2016-17 campaign was one of the most successful seasons in Eastern Michigan history. In the classroom, EMU student-athletes posted a 3.173 grade point average (GPA) during the winter semester, the sixth-highest mark on record. It was the 15th term in a row EMU student-athletes have earned over a 3.0 GPA.

For their efforts, 73 EMU student-athletes earned All-MAC honors (39 - first team, 30 - second team, and four - third team) in 2016-17. Additionally, the conference office acknowledged EMU student-athletes on 55 different occasions for Player of the Week accolades in 16 of EMU's 21 sports.

Furthermore, 68 student-athletes were singled out for MAC Distinguished Scholar Student-Athletes with 179 earning Academic All-MAC accolades. Also, a total of 11 EMU standouts were selected for the prestigious weekly MAC Scholar-Athlete Award, which is given to just one male and one female student-athlete from nominees of all 12 league schools.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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