By Tim Heiduk
 
(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) Westmont had one of its most successful athletics seasons in 2019-20 before it was shortened due to COVID-19. The Warriors also succeeded academically, with numerous Westmont athletic teams and student-athletes earning academic awards, as announced this morning on the annual NAIA Awards Day.
 
Westmont had 12 of its athletic programs named NAIA Scholar Teams for accumulating a team GPA of at least 3.0 for the 2019-20 academic year, while 52 Warriors received NAIA Scholar-Athlete recognition for being a rising junior or older and possessing a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50.
 
Women's cross country (3.55 GPA) once again paced all Warrior programs, leading all Westmont teams in GPA for at least the fourth straight year. This is the seventh straight year women's cross country has earned the NAIA award, extending its school record along with women's track & field (3.44 GPA), women's volleyball (3.39 GPA) and women's soccer (3.24 GPA).
 
Men's soccer (3.34 GPA), receiving the honor for the fifth straight year, led all Westmont men's teams with its highest team GPA since the award's inception. Other Warrior programs to definitely record their highest-ever team GPA since the NAIA Scholar Team award was first created are women's cross country and women's basketball (3.40 GPA).
 
Men's tennis (3.19 GPA), which also earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Team recognition, garnered the NAIA award for the sixth straight year. Men's cross country (3.25) and men's track & field (3.18 GPA) did so for the fourth consecutive year.
 
Women's tennis (3.23 GPA) received NAIA Scholar Team honors for the sixth time in the past seven years, as did women's basketball.
 
Women's swimming (3.24 GPA) added to its awards haul from its inaugural season as a program, earning NAIA Scholar Team honors after also being named a College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America Team for both the fall 2019 and spring 2020 semesters.
 
Men's basketball (3.10 GPA), which previously received the Team Academic Excellence Award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), were also named an NAIA Scholar Team.
 
Men's and women's track & field were previously recognized as U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Teams.
 
Additionally, 12 of Westmont's athletic teams had student-athletes earn NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors. Women's track & field had 14 scholar-athletes, the most of any Westmont program and Golden State Athletic Conference women's track & field team. Baseball had the second-most honorees of any Westmont program with six, while men's track & field tied for the most award recipients among GSAC men's track & field teams with five.
 
Last week Westmont was announced as an NAIA Champions of Character® Five-Star Award winner, one of 112 NAIA schools to earn gold status, the top honor.
 
Schools were rated on a scale of 0-100 and earned gold status with a score of 90 or above. Westmont tallied a score of 97.
 
According to the NAIA website, "Institutions are measured on a demonstrated commitment to Champions of Character and earned points in character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion. Institutions earned points based on exceptional student-athlete grade point averages and by having minimal to no ejections during competition throughout the course of the academic year."