By Arturo Aguirre, Feb. 2, 2021
CPP’s student-athletes continued their fine form in their studies as all 10 teams completed the 2020 fall semester with an outstanding grade point average of 3.35, despite contending with the first full-length virtual semester.
After achieving a record-setting GPA of 3.37 last spring, student-athletes managed to replicate their success. Out of the 241 student-athletes currently enrolled at CPP during the fall 188, or 78%, earned a GPA of 3.00 or higher and 96 students achieved Dean’s List honors with a GPA of 3.50 or higher.
Senior Amanda Faber, a center-back for the women’s soccer team and business student, credits the Athletics Department for the support that assisted them to get the best grades possible.
“It goes to show our dedication overall, and yes, we are here to play the sports that we love, but at the end of the day we are here to get educated,” said Faber. “With our staff being so great, they definitely made it an environment to where you want to learn and strive to be your best.”
While the volleyball team served up the highest GPA of 3.60, the Broncos on the men’s basketball team delivered the highest increase of 0.34 from the spring semester.
For some, replicating last semester’s academic success was a challenge given the transition to remote instruction and competition cancellations.
Sophomore Cesar Ruvalcaba, a center-back for the men’s soccer team and kinesiology student, felt the challenge of virtual instruction as he found difficulty to stay motivated on his studies.
“To be honest, it was the older teammates checking in on me, because there was a time where I was being lazy, and they would check in to make sure that I would stay on-top of my things,” said Ruvalcaba.
Ruvalcaba emphasized that not being with his teammates took a huge toll on building relationships with the incoming players and getting the chance to play for another season.
Despite the challenges the Broncos faced during fall semester, they have set their aim on maintaining academic success for yet another semester.
Senior Jeremiah Suzara, a biology student, is a former member of the men’s cross-country team but despite not being on the team anymore, he credits the strong relationship he and his teammates share as a significant contribution to their academic success.
“We totally want to replicate the success we had last fall semester, because it was really challenging at times, but we all preserved pretty well by maintaining good team chemistry for academic success,” said Suzara.