CHICAGO, Ill. -- North Park Baseball added to its 2024 champion season by closing the year with one more honor - American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Team Academic Excellence Award. This is the ninth time Coach Luke Johnson's squad has earned the award, dating back to the inception of the honors in 2016.

The Vikings secured a 3.453 grade-point average (GPA) for the school year, far surpassing the minimum requirements for the award's 3.0 standard. 14 different players secured a 4.0 GPA or higher in either the first or second semester of the 2023-24 academic year.

Requirements for the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award

The American Baseball Coaches Association's Team Academic Excellence Award honors high school and college programs coached by ABCA members that post a cumulative Grade Point Average over 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

Criteria for the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award include:

• Must be a high school or college team
• Head coach must be a current ABCA member
• Team must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale during the academic year. GPA may not be rounded up