The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) announced over the summer its spring 2017 Scholar-Athlete teams.

These schools were officially honored during an event on Thursday, September 14 at Holbrook Country Club.

The School of Excellence and School of Distinction Awards were handed out. The School of Excellence Award recognizes schools who have 75 percent of its varsity programs receive the Scholar-Athlete Team Award over the academic school year. The School of Distinction Award recognizes schools who have 100 percent of its varsity programs receive the Scholar-Athlete Team Award.

Section XI member school honorees include:

NYS Schools of Distinction

• Babylon High School
• Elwood/John Glenn High School
• Rocky Point High School
• Shelter Island High School

NYS Schools of Excellence

• Comsewogue High School
• Miller Place High School
• Sachem High School East
• Sachem High School North
• Smithtown High School East
• Smithtown High School West

According to the state, last spring 2,064 teams received the Scholar-Athlete Team Award. Even more impressive, 35,301 student-athletes received an individual grade point average of 90.00 or above, and have been recognized as Individual Scholar-Athletes. The change in this year’s program resulted in over 1,200 more individual scholar-athletes being recognized during this spring season compared to the spring 2016 season.

“Congratulations to our member schools and student-athletes,” said Executive Director Robert Zayas. “We continue to be proud of this program especially this year in which we recognized an additional 1,200 student-athletes achieving high standards in the classroom. We are excited to have the opportunity to expand this program to honor even more students for the academic excellence.”