GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Haverford Baseball program was awarded an American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Team Academic Excellence Award for the 2015-16 academic year, the organization announced in a release on Tuesday.
Haverford joins over 140 programs from amongst all three NCAA divisions, NAIA, junior college and the high school ranks to garner the award. The Fords joined Gettysburg and Johns Hopkins as Centennial Conference members receiving the honor.
In order to be eligible to receive the plaudit, a team must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 on a 4.0 scale during the 2015-16 academic year and the head coach must be a current ABCA member.
The baseball program adds the academic accomplishment to a decorated season that included a third Centennial Conference Championship in five seasons and the second-most wins in program history. In total, 11 members of the team were named to 2016 Centennial Conference Spring Academic Honor Roll while sophomore pitcher Justin Herring took home Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area recognition.
The American Baseball Coaches Association has a long tradition of recognizing the achievements of baseball coaches and student-athletes. The ABCA/Rawlings All-America Teams are the nation's oldest, founded in 1949, and the ABCA's awards program also includes the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Awards, the ABCA/Diamond Regional & National Coaches of the Year and several other major awards such as the ABCA Hall of Fame and the ABCA/Wilson Lefty Gomez Award.