HWS News
16 July 2024 • Athletics HWS Athletes Excel on the Field and in the Classroom By Mackenzie Larsen '12
Thanks to a department wide focus on academics and a strong Faculty-Athletics Fellows Program, HWS student athletes are thriving.
In addition to their successes in athletic competition during the 2023-24 season – including nine conference championships and one national championship - Hobart and William Smith athletes excelled in the classroom.
In athletic competition, the Herons and Statesmen finished 43rd out of 430 Division III schools in the 2023-24 Learield Directors’ Cup standings. The Learfield Directors’ Cup ranks the nation’s collegiate athletic departments based on their NCAA tournament finish. It is the highest that HWS has ever finished. HWS won nine conference championships and made seven NCAA tournament appearances, including Hobart Hockey winning its second consecutive national championship.
In the classroom, HWS student-athletes posted a combined 3.31 grade point average during the school year. The Herons and Statesmen earned 232 Conference All-Academic Awards. Hobart football led the way with 28 Liberty League All-Academic selections. They were followed closely by Hobart hockey which put 23 players on the New England Hockey Conference All-Academic Team. William Smith soccer led the Herons with 21 Liberty League All-Academic selections. The Heron lacrosse team was right behind them with 19.
“We take great pride in the fact that our teams and student- athletes have performed at an elite level not only in competition, but also in the classroom,” says Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics and Recreation Brian Miller. “HWS student- athletes annually receive numerous academic awards and recognition outside their sports. Our Herons and Statesmen are leaders around campus and throughout the community."
So far this year, 49 Statesmen and Herons have received national academic recognition. Thirteen Statesmen hockey players were recognized as American Hockey Coach Association Scholar All-American and 13 Heron field hockey players earned National Field Hockey Coaches Association National Academic Squad praise with eight earning NFHCA Scholar of Distinction recognition. Four teams have earned team recognition for their cumulative efforts in the classroom, including Hobart lacrosse which earned the USILA Team Academic Award and Hobart volleyball which earned the United Volleyball Conference All-Academic Team Award in its first year of varsity competition.
The Faculty-Athletics Fellows Program supports HWS athletes’ successes in the classroom. Founded in 2006, the Hobart and William Smith Faculty-Athletics Fellows Program is a collaboration between the faculty and the Athletic Department. Based on the underlying synergy between student athletic achievement and academic achievement, the program pairs athletics teams with faculty members to form lasting and meaningful relationships between students, professors and coaches.
Professor of History Matthew Crow, who serves as the NCAA Faculy Athletics Representative and Faculty-Athletic Fellow for the Hobart and William Smith rowing teams reflects on the athletes' academic achievements this year. “Taken as a whole, the impressive academic record of our students who are athletes speaks for itself, but we also need to appreciate the late nights, early mornings, and the overall sense of commitment and dedication such achievement represents. We should recognize the individual pursuit of excellence on display here, and we should also recognize the team cultures that support our students in becoming the best version of themselves. I am so proud to know and work with these students as people and as leaders of our campus community," he says.
Fellows support student-athletes by providing academic advice and connecting them to other faculty and resources within the campus community. Student-athletes provide faculty members with a chance to experience the world of the collegiate athlete first-hand, while also demonstrating their high levels of commitment, abilities to draw parallels between the classroom and the field, and passion. Along the way, students, professors and coaches alike have forged bonds that enhance an already rich experience.
