Rutherford, N.J. – The 2015-16 Felician University women's bowling team was recently named the winner of the 2017 New Jersey Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (NJAIAW) Team Academic Award for winter sports. The Golden Falcons earned the honor for the second consecutive year.
Felician was presented with the award on Sunday, January 29, at the annual NJAIAW Woman of the Year Luncheon, the annual New Jersey statewide celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD). Seton Hall University hosted the event at the Regan Fieldhouse in South Orange. The Golden Falcons were competing in a tournament and were honored in absentia; Felician's NJAIAW Woman of the Year honoree, Carly Brantner of the women's soccer team, accepted the award on the bowling team's behalf.
Felician earned the honor by virtue of accumulating the highest grade-point average of any college women's winter athletics team in New Jersey in the Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 semesters. The nine members of the Golden Falcons amassed a team GPA of 3.71 during the award period.
"It's truly an honor to win this award two years in a row," said Felician head coach Andrew Toriello. "Our athletes continue to display what being a student-athlete is supposed to be about. They take both sides of that title seriously."
Felician competed in its second season of varsity intercollegiate women's bowling in 2015-16, and posted a won-lost record of 45-64. The Golden Falcons finished third in the inaugural East Coast Conference (ECC) championship tournament. Following the year, Felician was named the ECC Academic Team of Excellence for women's bowling, and finished second among all NCAA programs nationally in GPA.
NGWSD celebrates the athletic achievements of women and the positive well-being associated with sports participation while also recognizing the continuing struggle for equality for women in sports. Feb. 6 will be the 31st anniversary of the chartering of NGWSD by Congress.
Provided by the Felician Sports Information Department.
