NEW ORLEANS — The La Verne men's and women's track & field teams are known to excel in the classroom as well as on the track and this year was no different.

On Thursday, both the men's team and the women's team earned All-Academic Team honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Leopards were two of 294 teams that were named All-Academic Teams by the USTFCCCA. Of those 294 teams, 183 were women's and 111 were men's.

For a team to be considered for this distinction, it must have a minimum team GPA of 3.10 on a 4.0 scale.

The La Verne men compiled a 3.14 GPA and the women recorded a 3.2.

In addition, Jacob Pavlovics and Catalina Lee Kim earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors during the 2016-17 track & field season.

To qualify for USTFCCCA All-Academic honors, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.25 and must have met at least one of the following athletic standards:

• Competed in an NCAA Indoor or Outdoor Championship
• Finished the regular season ranked in the national top-35 in an individual event or ranked in the national top-25 in a relay event on the official NCAA Descending Order List.