For the second year in-a-row, both Hope Collegetrack teams have been honored for academic achievement by theUnited States Track Coaches Association.  This nationalrecognition was initiated in 1998.     The women's team had the second best cumulative grade pointaverage among all NCAA Division III institutions during the 1998-99 school year.  Nebraska Wesleyan maintained the best GPA at3.54 while the Flying Dutch were 3.46.     The men's team had the eighth best cumulative GPA nationallyat 3.14. The top men's team in the nation was Emory, Ga. at 3.31. Both teams were coached last spring by Mark Northuis.     Honored for individual academic accomplishment were JenniferErnst of Westerville, Ohio (Westerville South HS) and EmilySowers of Grand Rapids (GR Christian HS).  Ernst is a senior thisfall while Sowers is a junior.     To qualify for the individual academic award, a student musthave participated at the Division III championships andmaintained a minimum 3.25 GPA.  Both Ernst and Sowers achievedNCAA Division III All-America distinction last spring at theoutdoor track and field championships.  Sowers finished fifth in the discus while Ernst was seventh in the 10,000-meter run.     This is the second year that Sowers has been honored by thenational track coaches association.  She is a psychology andsociology major.  Ernst is an art major.  Both were honored foracademic achievement in 1998-99 by the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA).     The 1998-99 school year was a banner year for Hope student-athletes on both the field of competition and in the classroom. Hope won the MIAA All-Sports award (now known as theCommissioner's Cup) a league record of 22nd time.  Teams andindividual athletes competed in eight NCAA Division IIIchampionships. Seven teams (men's and women's cross country,men's and women's swimming, men's tennis and men's and women'strack) were honored nationally for academic performance.

The Distinguished Lecture Series in  Sports Medicine at Hope College will feature an analysis of  "cryotherapy"--the use of cold in treating athletic  injuries--on Wednesday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m. in the Maas  Center.          The public is invited.  Admission is free.          Dr. Ken Knight of Brigham Young University will  present the address, "Cryotherapy:  A new look at an old  modality."  Knight will clarify the use of cryotherapy  during both immediate care and rehabilitation of sports  injury.  He will review research related to cryotherapy, and  will also make recommendations concerning its use.          Knight is widely regarded as the country's  foremost authority on cryotherapy and has been conducting  research on the topic for more than 20 years, according to  series coordinator Dr. R. Richard Ray Jr., who is an  athletic trainer and associate professor of kinesiology at  Hope.          The Distinguished Lecture Series in Sports  Medicine is designed for health care professionals with an  interest in physically active patients, and is intended for  students, educators and clinicians alike.  It is co-  sponsored by Holland Community Hospital, GNA Rehabilitation  Professionals and the college.