ROCHESTER, N.Y. --- Moravian College junior golfer Tyler Smith has been selected to the Empire 8 Athletic Conference 2017 Spring President's List as the Empire 8 honored almost 900 student-athletes for their athletics contributions and excellence in the classroom, and Moravian was also recognized as an Empire 8 All-Academic Team.

"I am very proud of Tyler's accomplishments in the classroom. He works very hard not only on the course but in the classroom and it shows by his academic accomplishments," stated Head Coach Kevin Edwards.

Smith was limited to just two of Moravian's five rounds this spring due to injury but those two rounds of 74 and 86 helped him finish fourth in the 2016-17 Empire 8 Conference Championship to earn All-Conference First Team honors. Smith's 74 in the third round and first of the spring at the Hershey Country Club was the lowest score of the round and tied for the second-best round in the entire championship. Over his 11 rounds this season, Smith averaged 76.82 strokes per round with a season low of 69 at the Franklin & Marshall College Fall Invitational, the program's fifth sub-70 round in the past 15 years. His 76.82 average is the fifth-best season in school history.

In the classroom, Smith is majoring in business management with a minor in finance at Moravian. Recipients of this honor must earn a 3.75 grade point average or higher during the semester while participating in a conference-sponsored sport.

In addition, the student-athlete must display positive conduct on and off campus and be enrolled full-time at the member institution. The conference states, "Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the Empire 8."

The Empire 8 recognized an all-time high 897 student-athletes with the President's List distinction. The previous high was 883 set during the fall of 2017.

Additionally, a record 123 teams were acknowledged as an Empire 8 All-Academic Team for registering a team grade point average of 3.2 or higher for the spring semester. The 123 teams breaks the previous record of 119, which was set in the spring of 2016.

The nine full-time conference members sponsored a record number of 4,228 student-athletes who combined for an Empire 8 wide spring semester grade point average of 3.232. The 3.232 GPA is the highest among Empire 8 members, beating out the GPA mark of 3.216 set in the spring of 2016.