Strode leads team with 4.0 GPA

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A total of 208 University of Arkansas student-athletes earned grades at or above a 3.0 grade point average for the fall 2008 semester the Razorback Athletics Department announced recently.The No. 46 Hogs boast four athletes on the current honor roll, led by senior Blake Strode who earned a 4.0 GPA and a spot on the Academic Champions list. Strode, who is majoring in international economics and minoring in Spanish holds a cumulative GPA of 3.972.

“Here’s a kid that’s made his peers better,” head Razorback coach Robert Cox said. “Blake’s influenced these guys off the court so much. Our grade point average has gone up since Blake has been here because he’s put pressure on his teammates and it’s made them better students.”

Other Razorbacks who made the list are: junior Taylor King, sophomores Nick Spinazze and Tyler Tarnasky and freshman Matt Walters.

The list of 208 honorees included 28 football players, 25 swimmers and divers, 24 soccer players, 23 men’s track and field athletes, 20 members of the baseball team, 19 softball players, 17 women’s track and field team members, 11 athletes from volleyball, 10 from gymnastics, seven women’s golfers, six each from men’s and women’s tennis, five from women’s basketball, four from men’s basketball and three from men’s golf.

In addition, the fall 2008 semester’s honors included 33 Razorback student-athletes with perfect 4.0 GPAs.

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