Fifteen Oglethorpe University men's soccer players posted GPAs of 3.25 or higher in fall 2025, and the program's collective 3.17 average earned it a national academic award announced Friday, Aug. 7.

The Brookhaven campus program received the United Soccer Coaches College Team Academic Award for the 2025-26 season, placing the Stormy Petrels among 329 men's programs nationwide that cleared the 3.0 GPA threshold. A total of 781 college soccer teams, men's and women's combined, earned the honor this year.

The 15 Petrels who landed on the Southern Athletic Association Academic Honor Roll following the fall 2025 season needed at least a 3.25 semester GPA to qualify. That fall honor roll set a conference record with 984 student-athletes recognized across all SAA schools.

Head coach Jon Akin, a 23-year veteran leading the program, has built a squad that performs in the classroom as well as on the pitch. The university says its student-athletes earn higher GPAs on average than the rest of the student body.

The soccer award is the latest in a run of classroom honors for Petrels athletes. It stands out. Oglethorpe placed 100 student-athletes on the SAA's record-breaking Winter/Spring 2026 Honor Roll, which shattered the previous conference mark by nearly 300 students. Earlier this summer, golfers Jackson Hiller and Ryan Dunn earned NCAA Division III Cobalt Golf All-America Scholar honors for the second consecutive year.

Oglethorpe competes in NCAA Division III and fields 16 varsity teams, with 21 percent of the student body playing a sport.

The Petrels open their fall 2026 home schedule Oct. 4 against Centre College.