2011-12 Augusta State Athletics Year In Review

With seven teams qualifying for NCAA Regional competition, ASU Athletics enjoyed another banner year in 2011-12.

In fact, over the last six seasons, 38 Jaguar teams have qualified for NCAA postseason competition, including seven (of 11) in 2011-12. More impressive is that since 2008, 28 Jaguar teams have earned national rankings in their respective sports.

The Jaguar Women’s and Men’s Cross Country teams set the pace last fall when both programs qualified for the NCAA Southeast Regional in Charlotte, N.C., and each finished sixth. The men’s squad captured the Peach Belt Conference Championship in just its second season since its reinstatement, while the postseason appearance for the Lady Jags marked their sixth consecutive trip to the regionals.

The ASU Men’s Basketball squad registered its sixth consecutive season with 17 or more wins and narrowly missed earning a sixth straight bid to the NCAA Tournament. With their 58-53 victory over No. 23 USC Aiken on Feb. 15, 2012, the Jags improved to 12-0 at home against nationally-ranked opponents under head coach Dip Metress.

The Jags fared much better in the spring, with five of six teams advancing to the postseason.

The ASU men’s tennis squad, under the direction of Michael McGrath, ventured into unchartered territory in May. The Jags advanced out of the Southeast Regional to the NCAA Championships for the first time in the program’s history. After arriving in Louisville, Ky., the Jags were far from done, winning a pair of matches to reach the Final Four for the first time in program history.

The ASU Women’s Tennis team and both ASU Golf teams made NCAA Regional appearances, with the Lady Jag golfers making back-to-back regional trips for the first time. The men’s golf squad, in its first season under former women’s head coach Kevin McPherson, earned its sixth consecutive trip to the postseason and missed qualifying for the NCAA Championships by just four strokes.

ASU Softball posted a 33-18 record and advanced to the NCAA Southeast Regional title game for the second consecutive year. The Jags, who made their fourth straight regional appearance and their fifth in the last six seasons, were ranked as high as No. 12. Under head coach Melissa Mullins, ASU established a school record with the first 40-win season in the program’s history in 2010. Outfielder Kristen Jones earned national honors in 2011, becoming the first Jaguar in school history to earn an NFCA All-America selection.

In 2012, senior shortstop Kacee Camp became the first ASU student-athlete in school history in any sport to be named to the Capital One Academic All-America® team. Camp graduated from ASU in May with a B.S. in Biology and a 3.88 GPA.

She was selected the ASU Athletics’ Department Female Student-Athlete of the Year and she also garnered All-Southeast Region honors for the fourth consecutive season. She was tabbed to the Peach Belt Conference’s all-conference first team and she was also named to the PBC’s All-Academic squad while sporting the highest GPA of any player on the team.

Away from the fields, courts and courses, ASU enjoyed one of its strongest years ever academically as well. The University’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics was named the recipient of the 2012 Peach Belt Conference Presidents’ Academic Award in late May. The award -- the first-ever for ASU -- recognizes excellence in academics concerning all of an institution’s student-athletes. The 2011-12 academic year marked the seventh year the award has been presented by the PBC.

A school-record 106 student-athletes were named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for their efforts during the 2012 spring semester. To be eligible for the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, a student-athlete must register a term GPA of 3.0 or better.

Among the highlights:

- A school-record 24 student-athletes recorded a perfect 4.0 grade point average
- The baseball and softball teams each had five student-athletes with a 4.0 GPA
- The women’s tennis team posted the top average GPA (3.60)
- The average GPA of all student-athletes was a 2.91
- Nearly 60 percent (58.9) of all student-athletes (106 of 180) had at least a 3.0 GPA
- Six of ASU’s 11 varsity sports had team GPA’s over 3.0 -- women’s tennis (3.60), women's cross country (3.58), softball (3.49), men’s cross country (3.45), women's golf (3.31) and men's tennis (3.19)