ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon University athletic department hit a new high with 11 NAIA Scholar Teams in 2019-20 while reaching double figures for the fourth straight year, the national office announced.

To qualify for the Scholar Team distinction, a team's full roster must combine for a grade-point average of 3.0 or better during the academic calendar year.

The Raider softball team took top honors with a 3.56 GPA, tailed closely by the women's cross country team at 3.54. Two others checked in at 3.44: the volleyball team, which led the department each of the previous four years, and the women's soccer team, which exceeded the 3.4 mark for the seventh year in a row.

SOU's women's wrestling team boosted the Raiders to a new record total by collecting the honor for the first time with a combined 3.23 GPA.

SOU was also represented by its women's track and field (3.38), men's soccer (3.24), women's basketball (3.15), men's cross country (3.15), men's track and field (3.03) and men's basketball (3.01) teams.

On Tuesday, 62 Raider upperclassmen were named Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes for carrying GPAs of 3.5 or better.