(PHOENIX, AZ). – 131 Dixie State College Student-Athletes and a total of nearly 1,000 student-athletes representing each of the 10 Pacific West Conference institutions and all 11 of the league’s athletic programs have been named to the 2011-12 PacWest Academic All-Conference Team.

The honor was announced yesterday by the conference media relations office in Phoenix.

A total of 967 student-athletes earned the academic award for compiling a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.00 – an increase of 227 student-athletes from 2010-11. Student-athletes who are eligible to practice or compete with their respective teams are eligible to receive the honor.

For Dixie State, the 131 athletes had representatives from all eleven Pac-West sports. Women's soccer led the way with 25, followed by baseball (17), softball (16), men's soccer (14), volleyball (13), men's basketball (12), women's tennnis (9), women's cross country (9), women's basketball (6), men's cross country (6), and men's golf (4).

The addition of California Baptist University as the 10th institution in the conference would naturally increase the number of academic all-conference selections; however, the jump by more than 200 student-athletes in one year is staggering.

For the third straight year, women’s soccer posted the most recipients with 173 Academic All-Conference Team members – a jump of 55 over last season. Men’s soccer finished runner-up for the second consecutive year with 135 (an increase of 21), while softball wound up third with 125 - a leap of 43 student-athletes.

Every athletic program in the conference saw an increase, while baseball and women’s cross country saw significant climbs. Baseball improved from 53 to 87 student-athletes, while women’s cross country bumped its numbers from 50 to 74.

The diversity of the outstanding student-athletes of the PacWest is evident beyond just the representation in each sport.

Student-athletes on the 2011-12 PacWest Academic All-Conference Team represent 70 percent of the United States – or 35 of the states. Internationally, student-athletes from 37 different countries spread across six continents have landed on this year’s squad.

The PacWest now will choose a Scholar-Athlete of the Year for each of its 11 sports. Institutions have been presented with an opportunity to nominate one student-athlete from each of its athletic programs.

The winners will be announced in late August with a PacWest Men’s and Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year selected from the top votegetters in each sport.