JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It's not easy to redefine what it means to achieve academic success year after year, but Jacksonville University Athletics has done just that. Again.
For the fifth consecutive year, and sixth year of the last seven, the Jacksonville Athletics department has set a new program mark for total combined GPA with a 3.57 across the school's 19 athletic teams.
"This new mark is really remarkable," said Associate AD for Student-Athlete Services Andy Heston. "Seeing continued ascension, year to year, is extremely fulfilling. This is a testament to high-level recruiting, support and academic achievement all being a priority. Not only are our students talented, but they are also incredibly persistent and motivated to reach lofty goals. This level of GPA increase over four to five years is incredibly rare. It takes everyone on board to strive for peak academic success and we've done just that."
Helping the university reach that milestone was each of the school's 19 teams achieving above a 3.0 GPA over the course of the school year for just the third time in school history. For the first time ever, all teams finished above a 3.30.
Also, for the first time ever, 12 teams earned a 3.50 or higher. Eight of those teams set at least a term and academic year record during the past school year: baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's rowing, men's golf, men's lacrosse, and women's soccer.
Three programs set their second-best academic finish ever: men's soccer, cheer and dance and women's golf.
"I'm so incredibly proud of our student-athletes, coaches and support team for yet another record setting year," said Athletic Director Alex Ricker-Gilbert. "Our student-athletes continue to set new standards in the classroom. The commitment to the holistic development of our student-athletes remains our top priority and pivotal to our success. Our coaches, and Student-Athlete Services team led by Andy Heston, have created a culture where academics and preparation for life after sports is, and will always be, a core value."
On the individual student-athlete side, the Jacksonville Dolphins notched three student-based records during the most recent school year.
For the first time ever, 91% of all student-athletes earned a 3.0 or higher. For the first time as well, 68% of student-athletes earned a 3.5 or higher while 44% of all student-athletes on Jacksonville's campus earned a 3.75 or higher --- a department best achievement.
A department-record three student athletes were named Atlantic Sun Scholar-Athletes of the Year in their respective sports: beach volleyball's Katie Martinez, men's golf's Brandon Lohr and baseball's Alex Walsh.
In addition, the Dolphins had 88 athletes named to their conference All-Academic team, another department record. Sixty-six of those student-athletes are graduating with specifically ASUN Academic honors of a 3.5 GPA or higher, a new best benchmark.
Academic achievement is nothing new for Jacksonville, as the Dolphin athletic teams have continued to succeed not only on the playing field but in the classroom. Since 2020, the men's programs have archived almost a full .50 GPA improvement as a unit.
Since head coach Ali Simmons took over the men's soccer team in 2023 and head coach Ryan Moon took over women's soccer in 2024, both programs have reset almost every academic record set before them. For Simmons' team, his academic finish this year is only rivaled by the mark set by last year's team, which stands as the best academic year ever for men's soccer.
Both basketball programs set new program records within the past school year, coinciding with the women's basketball's crowning achievement of winning the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. Cheer and dance's 3.531 GPA was just 0.006 points shy of its all-time record. This April, the dance program also competed at the NDA Nationals for the first time in school history.
Women's golf's GPA of 3.863 set the program mark for second-best all-time. That GPA comes behind just the GPA of the 2016-17 team, which was the top team in all of Division 1 that year.
The 2025-26 school year now stands as the best cumulative academic year in the more than 90-year history of Jacksonville University athletics.
