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South Easton, Mass. – The Northeast-10 Conference has announced the winners of its inaugural Northeast-10 Team Academic Excellence Awards for the 2009-2010 academic year. The Northeast-10 Team Academic Excellence awards honors the team in each of the conference's 23-sponsored sports with the highest grade point average during the entire 2009-2010 academic year.

As a conference, the Northeast-10 had an impressive 60.5-percent of its teams record grade point averages of above 3.0 this year as 169 out of a possible 279 teams reached the 3.0 mark or better. In addition, the 23 team award recipients represented eight different member institutions. Bentley University was the front-runner earning team academic accolades in eight sports. The Falcons were followed by Adelphi University (5) and Stonehill College (3).

"Congratulations to all our student-athletes that have worked so hard both athletically and academically throughout the year," said Northeast-10 Commissioner Julie Ruppert. "The academic success that our student-athletes continue to achieve is inspiring and is a reflection of their institutions, the Northeast-10 and certainly illustrates the opportunities to broaden knowledge that exists in Division II."

Bentley won eight team academic excellence awards as 20 of its 22 teams earned GPAs of 3.0 or better this year. The Falcons' men's soccer team (3.37) posted the best team GPA among the eight Bentley teams that were honored. Bentley also finished with the top GPA in men's golf (3.31), men's cross country (3.29), football (3.00), men's swimming & diving (3.16), men's indoor track & field (3.30), men's outdoor track & field (3.30) and men's lacrosse (3.18).

Southern New Hampshire University's women's tennis team posted the highest GPA (3.55) of any of the 279 Northeast-10 athletic teams. The Penmen tennis squad was one of three teams to post the highest grade-point average among the teams that also won a Northeast-10 Championship. The Penmen won both the regular season and tournament titles this year. The Bentley men's swimming & diving team (3.16) won the Northeast-10 Championship, while its football team (3.00) earned a share of the regular season championship.

The Le Moyne College men's tennis team recorded the highest GPA average of any men's program (3.49) and was the only men's program in any sport to have a GPA of over 3.40.

On the women's side, 11 teams representing eight member institutions recorded GPAs of 3.40 or more including award winners, Adelphi women's volleyball (3.51), Merrimack College's women's cross country (3.48), Saint Michael's College women's basketball (3.44), Southern New Hampshire's women's tennis and Stonehill College's women's soccer (3.44).

Other sport winners were: Adelphi's baseball (3.11), field hockey (3.30), softball (3.25) and women's swimming & diving (3.47) teams, Assumption College men's basketball (3.01), Merrimack's women's lacrosse team (3.25), Southern New Hampshire's ice hockey team (3.12) and Stonehill's women's indoor track & field (3.34) and women's outdoor track & field (3.34) teams.

With 16 member institutions the Northeast-10 shares the distinction of being the largest Division II conference in the country along with the PSAC and WVIAC. Its 23 championship sports provide athletic opportunities for over 5,500 student-athletes, the largest such program of any Division II conference.

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2009-2010 Team Academic Excellence Awards

Fall Sports
Men's Golf – Bentley (3.31)
Men's Cross Country – Bentley (3.29)
Women's Cross Country – Merrimack (3.48)
Field Hockey – Adelphi (3.30)
Football – Bentley (3.00)
Men's Soccer – Bentley (3.37)
Women's Soccer – Stonehill (3.44)
Women's Volleyball – Adelphi (3.51)

Winter Sports
Men's Basketball – Assumption (3.01)
Women's Basketball – Saint Michael's (3.44)
Ice Hockey – So. New Hampshire (3.12)
Men's Indoor Track & Field – Bentley (3.30)
Women's Indoor Track & Field – Stonehill (3.34)
Men's Swimming & Diving – Bentley (3.16)
Women's Swimming & Diving – Adelphi (3.47)

Spring Sports
Baseball – Adelphi (3.11)
Men's Lacrosse – Bentley (3.18)
Women's Lacrosse – Merrimack (3.25)
Men's Outdoor Track & Field – Bentley (3.30)
Women's Outdoor Track & Field – Stonehill (3.34)
Softball – Adelphi (3.25)
Men's Tennis – Le Moyne (3.49)
Women's Tennis – So. New Hampshire (3.55)