LOUISVILLE, Kent. – Thanks to a cumulative team grade point average of 3.075 for the 2023-24 school year, the Colorado State University Pueblo men's lacrosse program earned a Team Academic Award, presented by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) as announced by the organization on Thursday afternoon.
In order to earn a USILA Academic Team Award, a program needs to compile a team GPA of 3.00 or better for the season and the Pack were one of 29 Division II schools to be recognized this season. The ThunderWolves were joined on the list by fellow Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schools Colorado Mesa, Dominican University of California and Westminster University.
Along with announcing the 2023-24 Team Academic Award winners, the USILA also announced the 2022-24 Scholar All-Americans and two ThunderWolves – sophomore defender
Bergen Anderson (Lincoln, Neb./Southwest) and junior midfielder
Luke Mummert (Albuquerque, N.M./Albuquerque) – were recognized for their academic excellence in the classroom.
In 1989, the USILA Scholar All-American program was established to recognize student-athletes from USILA member institutions who have distinguished themselves academically, athletically and as citizens of their communities. A USILA USILA Scholar All-American must be student with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 (4.0 scale) and he will have behaved in a manner that has brought credit to himself, his institution, and to college lacrosse both on and off the field. He must also be an All-American, a member of a North/South team, or an outstanding league or conference player.
Anderson earns his Scholar All-American honor after carrying a 3.976 cumulative GPA in Civil Engineering Tech. The defender has been recognized this season as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men's Lacrosse Academic Player of the Year and was also a Second-Team All-RMAC selection after being second on the team in caused turnovers with 22 and added 12 ground balls and two assists. The 22 caused turnovers were tied for second most on the school's single-season list and he was tied for fifth in the RMAC in caused turnovers per game as he averaged 1.57 per game.
Mummert earns his Scholar All-American honor after carrying a 3.750 cumulative GPA in Exercise Science. The midfielder is a two-time member of the RMAC Men's Lacrosse All-Academic Honor Roll and finished this season with 22 ground balls, 10 caused turnovers and added both a goal and an assist for two points. He was one of seven Pack players to record 10 or more caused turnovers in a game and helped the Pack men's lacrosse program to lead Division II in caused turnover per game as they averaged 13.36.
Anderson and Mummert become the fifth and sixth Pack players in school history to earn USILA Scholar All-American honors as they join Preston DeHerrera (2018), Anthony Ferrie (2019), Tavian Watson (2020) and
Logan Naves (2022). It also marks the first time in program history that the Pack have had two Scholar All-Americans in the same season.
The Pack teammates were two of the five RMAC players to earn Scholar All-American honors this season as they were joined by Colorado Mesa's Dylan Checketts, Dominican University of California's Noah Gibson and Keenan Mai. Overall, the USILA named 82 NCAA Division II Scholar All-Americans for the 2023-24 school year, which is an increase of 42 from the last season.
The Pack, who are coached by
Sean Blair, concluded its 10th and final season of intercollegiate competition in 2023-24 with a 2-12 overall record and a 1-7 mark in the RMAC.
