Published on April 5, 2012 by Joey Mullins  

Samford University led all Southern Conference schools with 20 representatives on the 2012 Winter Academic All-Conference Team, released by the league April 5.

This marks the second-straight year that Samford has led the SoCon in Winter Academic All-Conference team representatives. Last season, Samford led the league with 24 student-athletes names to the team.

The women's indoor track team had the most representatives among Samford teams with 11. The men's indoor track team had six representatives, followed by women's basketball with three. Samford's 20 student-athletes had an average grade-point average of 3.56 on a 4.0 scale.

In the conference as a whole, 158 student-athletes, which participated in men's and women's basketball, men's and women's indoor track and field and wrestling were honored. Those student-athletes recorded a 3.62 GPA. Sixteen student-athletes in the conference have maintained perfect 4.0 cumulative GPAs. 

To be eligible, student-athletes must carry at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average entering the winter season and were required to compete in at least one-half of their team's competitions during the recently-concluded winter campaign. In addition, the student-athletes must have successfully completed at least 24 credit hours in the previous two semesters. 

The league's women's track and field programs provided the most Academic All-Conference members with 71, followed by men's indoor track and field with 43 and women's basketball with 25. 

Behind Samford's league-leading 20 student-athletes on the team, Elon had 18 representatives on the team, while Western Carolina placed 17 student-athletes on the team and UNC Greensboro had 15 representatives on the squad.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.