Griz collect 12th Team Academic Award

The Montana soccer program was named a recipient of the United Soccer Coaches' Team Academic Award recently.

It marks the 10th time in the last 11 years that the Grizzlies have been honored and the 12th time overall, dating back to the program's first award in 1998.

To be eligible, teams must have had a team GPA of 3.0 or better for the 2019-20 academic year.

Montana had a 3.49 GPA last fall, while the Grizzlies were winning the Big Sky Conference regular-season championship.

The Grizzlies spent nearly two months on campus last spring, going through their usual off-season schedule before everything turned most unusual due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In mid-March, campus was closed and students were sent home. Academics, meanwhile, carried on, through remote learning.

Routines were disrupted, social networks disappeared, training, typically so structured, took on a do-what-you-can-with-what-you-have-available approach.

In other words: Do your best to get through.

"There were a lot of people who were stressed out and unsure of what was going to happen next," said coach Chris Citowicki, who did his best to guide his team from a distance.

"They had to figure it out and find a way to solve it. And they got it done."

The team responded with a GPA for the spring semester of better than 3.6.

"To be put into that unknown and still be able to maintain focus and get the grades that they did is pretty cool, because it was stressful," added Citowicki.

"To come out of all of that with better than a 3.6 is remarkable. It's amazing. Every time I don't think they can be any better, they pull out a surprise and get better."

University of Montana Athletics

Related News

Related Videos