Kansas earns CSCAA Scholar All-America Team honor

NORFOLK, Va. – Currently in his 15th year of coaching the Kansas swimming and diving squad, head coach Clark Campbell has always emphasized the importance of academics with his teams. That emphasis has never lacked, and the program now has 29-straight semesters of awards to highlight its success. The College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) announced Wednesday that Kansas has again earned Scholar All-America recognition for the 2016 fall semester.
 
“There are three basic tenets of what we want our program to do; we want to get faster, we want them to get good grades and we want them to graduate,” Campbell said. “If you do those three things over your four-year career, you’re going to do okay. That’s in essence the three most important things in their college experience, everything else is gravy. If you focus on those three tenets, you’re going to have a good swimming team.”
 
To be selected as a CSCAA Scholar All-America team, programs must have achieved a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher over the fall semester. The Jayhawks posted the highest fall semester GPA during Campbell’s tenure, a combined 3.38 team GPA last fall, raising it from 3.28 in the fall of 2015 and 3.27 in the spring 2016 semester.
 
“(The All-America Team honor) is always a team goal and a focal point of our program,” said Campbell. “We’re really excited about how we did in the fall. Freshmen can take time to get going, but this group stepped up in the pool and the classroom. A lot of credit goes to Laura Jacobsen, our academic advisor. She focuses on keeping the expectations high and the team responds well.”
 
It was a banner semester for the CSCAA and programs across the nation, as a record 638 teams, representing 394 institutions, earned a grade point average of 3.0 or higher. The overall number grew by 91 teams and 36 institutions compared to one year ago.
 
The Jayhawks will travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas on Saturday, January 28 for a meet against Arkansas, before returning to Robinson Natatorium to conclude the regular season with a dual meet against Iowa State, February 3-4.
 
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