Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
Montana State Athletic Teams Honored by NCAA for APR Success
6/14/2012 1:24:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Tennis
The Montana State women’s tennis team and the men’s cross country squad are among 954 NCAA Division I contingents to be recognized for earning Public Recognition Awards, based on their most recent multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR).
The Montana State women's tennis team and the men's cross country squad are among 954 NCAA Division I contingents to be recognized for earning Public Recognition Awards, based on their most recent multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR). The award is given each year to teams with APR's in the top 10 percent in each sport.
The honor is the second straight for the Bobcat women's tennis team and the first for the men's cross country squad.
“It's a wonderful achievement for our women's tennis team and men's cross country to be recognized nationally for being in the top 10-percent of all programs across the country,” Peter Fields, MSU Athletics Director said. “It is a tribute to the coaches and student-athletes that they hit this milestone.”
The APR provides a real-time view of a team's academic success by tracking the progress of each student-athlete during the school year. By measuring eligibility and retention each semester or quarter, the APR provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport.
Only eleven squads earned the honor from the Big Sky Conference, including MSU, Eastern Washington (men's cross country, golf); Northern Colorado (women's basketball, volleyball); Sacramento State (men's cross country, women's cross country, women's indoor/outdoor track and field); and Weber State (men's cross country).
“These teams prove that it is possible to not only balance academic and athletic commitment, as most student-athletes do, but to exceed standards and post outstanding academic scores,” said NCAA President Mark Emmert. “The drive and determination shown in the classroom and on the field by these men and women represent what it means to be an NCAA student-Athlete.”
Five national champions from the 2010-11 season are included in this year's award list: University of Notre Dame women's soccer; University of California, Los Angeles women's golf; Brown University women's rowing; Arizona State University softball; and The Ohio State University men's volleyball.
A total of 263 schools, out of 347 Division I colleges and universities, placed at least one team on the top APR list. Additionally, 8 schools that offer athletics in more than one division, out of 49 overall within the NCAA, placed Division I teams on the list.
Dartmouth had the most teams (23) recognized, followed by Brown (20) and Harvard (18).
In 2011, 909 teams were recognized.
In seven years of the NCAA's academic reform program, 2,946 different teams have received Public Recognition Awards, representing 46 percent of eligible teams during that time. Of that total, 209 teams have received Public Recognition Awards each of the seven years of the program.
Each year, the NCAA tracks the classroom performance of student-athletes on every Division I team through the annual scorecard of academic achievement, known as APR. The score measures eligibility and retention each semester or quarter and provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport. The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on scores from the 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years.
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