The spring semester brought multiple conference championships to the Tuskegee trophy case. Both the men's and women's tennis teams, as well as the women's outdoor track & field program, won SIAC championships while the softball and men's basketball teams captured West Division titles as well.

But the Golden Tigers were big-time winners in the classroom during the just completed academic term. Of the 12 varsity sports and the cheer team that were considered, all but two programs posted a grade point average over 3.0 and the athletic department submitted a cumulative GPA of 3.25 for the spring semester.

Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics and Director of Athletics Reginald Ruffin said he was proud of not just the work the student-athletes have put in, but the infrastructure and dedication towards academic success that the entire athletic department has implemented to put those student-athletes in the best positions to succeed.

"We can demand success from our students. But much like we are improving facilities for our athletes to perform, we have to give them a structure, academically, that will allow them to excel," Ruffin said. "We also have to have a buy-in from everyone in the athletics department and I believe that the numbers show that we are getting that from everyone."

The men's cross country team (3.45) and men's track & field team (3.422) posted the top grade point averages during the spring. Three (men's tennis, women's tennis, cheer, women's volleyball) each had GPAs over 3.3.

Ruffin said the goal is to have each program consistently have GPAs over 3.0, which leaves a little work for baseball (2.98) and football (2.84). But he has little doubt that those programs will be able to achieve the goal.

"Football and baseball tend to have the largest rosters among all of the sports so there tends to be a larger variable for those teams. But our academic support staff of (Nicholas) Brown and Ms. (Ardalia) Lunn, and our coaches in those sports, are working hard to get them there," Ruffin said.

Final Spring Semester GPAs:

Men's Cross Country - 3.45 
Men's Indoor/Outdoor Track - 3.422
Cheer - 3.345 
Women's Tennis - 3.39 
Men's Tennis - 3.39 
Volleyball - 3.303 
Softball - 3.28
Women's Cross Country - 3.28
Women's Basketball - 3.22
Women's  Indoor/Outdoor Track - 3.202 
Men's Basketball - 3.15 
Baseball - 2.98 
Football - 2.840 

Keep up with the Golden Tigers teams at  www.goldentigersports.com