NEW ORLEANS – The University of South Alabama earned four 2014-15 Sun Belt Conference Team Academic Awards — twice as many as any other league member — it was announced Thursday.

Earning awards from USA were the Jaguar softball team, the men's and women's cross country squads and the men's track and field program.

The Sun Belt recognizes one team from each of the conference's 16 sports for the award, which is calculated by totaling the student-athlete grade-point averages for a squad and then dividing it by the total number of student-athletes on that team; the team that has the highest average GPA is named the Team Academic Award winner for that year.  All GPAs are based on the previous school year and include the total GPA for the year, not the average of semesters.

As a department, Jaguar Athletics had a record 100 student-athletes make the Dean's List — and 189 individuals with a 3.0 GPA or better — in the spring semester while 10 sport programs carried a team grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.

During the 2013-14 academic year USA also placed second in the Bubas Cup standings, the award that recognizes the league's top overall program in competition, for the department's best finish in more than 10 years.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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