For the third time in the seven-year history of the award and for the second straight year, Eastern Connecticut State University has earned the Presidents’ Cup for the 2015-16 academic year. The award is given to the top academic institution in the Little East Conference (LEC) during the academic year.

The LEC Presidents’ Cup measures the highest cumulative grade point average of the eight institutions in the conference. Each college or university calculates the cumulative GPA for its student-athletes who competed in the league’s 19 championship-sponsored sports.

Eastern had earned the inaugural award during the 2009-10 academic year and in 2014-15 won for the second time with a cumulative grade point average of 3.11. In 2015-16, the Warriors again outdistanced runner-up Keene State College with a 3.18 GPA – the highest by an institution in the history of the award.

“I congratulate the scholar-athletes of Eastern Connecticut State University for earning back-to-back Little East Conference Presidents’ Cups, the LEC’s highest academic award, as well as earning the highest ever institutional cumulative GPA since the inception of the Cup.” said Commissioner Cora H. Brumley. “This prestigious award clearly demonstrates intercollegiate athletics’ ability to enhance the academic mission of our member institutions. The Warriors’ staff is to be commended for their role in facilitating their student-athletes’ achievements.”

This past year, 13 of Eastern’s 17 intercollegiate programs amassed cumulative GPAs of better than 3.00, with five of them at 3.40 or better. No Eastern team had a cumulative GPA of less than 2.57. Individually, 99 student-athletes qualified for LEC All-Academic status with minimum overall GPAs of 3.30. Four student-athletes were chosen for national academic honors: men’s cross country/track & field athlete Lee Cattanach (New London) and women’s basketball player Jill Ritrosky (Pittsfield, MA) as CoSIDA Academic All-Americas, soccer player Cooper D’Ambrosio (Andover) as an NSCAA Scholar-All-America, and field hockey player Katy Jankura (Guilford) as an NFHCA Scholar of Distinction. Additionally, the men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey and swimming programs were recognized with team awards from their national governing bodies. In all, Eastern student-athletes were honored with regional or national academic awards a total of 22 times.

“The Eastern Department of Athletics is proud to receive for the second straight year the Presidents’ Cup, as it reflects the hard work that our student-athletes put into their fields of study and the passion they show in the classroom,” remarked Eastern Director of Athletics Lori Runksmeier. “I think it’s great that the Little East has chosen to honor academic success with the highest award the conference gives. The priority shown by that decision embodies what Division III athletics is all about.”

In addition to the academic success, Eastern teams won or shared LEC regular-season championships in men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s lacrosse, with the women’s basketball team and baseball teams capturing LEC post-season tournament titles and qualifying for NCAA tournaments.