Laramie, Wyo. (Feb. 21, 2017) -- The Mountain West Conference announced its 2016 Fall Academic All-Mountain West team on Tuesday, and for the second consecutive year University of Wyoming Athletics had 60 student-athletes earn the honor.  The 60 UW student-athletes to earn Academic All-MW recognition ties for the most Cowboys and Cowgirls to earn Academic All-MW in a fall semester.  Wyoming also had 60 individuals earn the honor for the 2015 fall semester. 

            Since UW began competition as a founding member of the Mountain West in 1999.   Wyoming's previous high was 50 student-athletes named to the team in the Fall of 2014 and the Fall of 2013.

            Wyoming's 60 members on this year's team tied UW for fourth highest among all Mountain West institutions.  Boise State and Utah State each placed 67 individuals on the team, followed by Nevada with 63.  Wyoming and New Mexico each had  60.  There were a record 614 student-athletes across the Mountain West to earn 2016 fall semester Academic All-Mountain West honors.

            "I want to congratulate all of our student-athletes who were named to the Academic All-Conference team," said UW Athletics Director Tom Burman.  "It takes a great deal of dedication to excel in the classroom while managing the demands of training and competing at the NCAA Division I level.  We are also proud of the consistent academic performance we've seen by our student-athletes over the past several years.  It is a trend that says a lot about the young men and women in our program."

            UW's honorees included 19 individuals from football, 17 from soccer, 10 from volleyball, seven for men's cross country and seven for women's cross country.

            The Cowgirl soccer team ranked No. 1 among all MW women's soccer programs, with 17 individuals making the team, and Cowgirl volleyball tied for first, with 10 individual honorees.  Cowboy football and men's cross country tied for fourth in their sports, with 19 and seven student-athletes, respectively.  Women's cross country ranked sixth in the conference, with seven individuals.  The women's cross country team led the MW a year ago with 12 honorees.  There were 34 Cowgirls named to this year's team and 26 Cowboys.        

            To earn Academic All-Mountain West honors a student-athlete must have achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 or better, be a starter or significant contributor on their team and must have completed at least one academic term at their member institution.

            In addition to the 11 member schools who are full members of the Mountain West, affiliate members Hawai'i (in football) and Colorado College (in women's soccer) all had student-athletes named to this year's team.

            The five Mountain West Conference sponsored sports that make up the Fall Academic All-Mountain West Team are: men's cross country, women's cross country, football, women's soccer and women's volleyball.  The Mountain West also names an Academic All-Conference Team for winter and spring sports that is released later in the year.

(See Attached Listing of Wyoming's 2016 Fall Semester Academic All-Mountain West Honorees)