June 14, 2012

Two Tech teams honored by NCAA with APR Public Recognition Awards

Tennessee Tech’s softball and women’s golf teams are among those who received Public Recognition Awards Thursday from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for top academic performance.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech’s softball and women’s golf teams are among those who received Public Recognition Awards Thursday from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for top academic performance.

The awards are given to teams scoring in the Top 10 percent nationally in the Multi-Year Academic Progress Rate (APR), which is part of the NCAA’s academic reform program.

“We take a great deal of pride in the academic success of all our teams, and especially this latest news of the Public Recognition Awards for softball and women’s golf,” said Mark Wilson, TTU Director of Athletics.

“It verifies, once again, that we are successfully fulfilling our mission toward our student-athletes, and it speaks to the diligence of our student-athletes,” he said. “Our students are coming in better prepared when they enter Tennessee Tech, and they are staying on track to earn their degrees.”

The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester or quarter by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete. The APR includes eligibility, retention and graduation in the calculation and provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport.

The APR awards two points each term to student-athletes who meet academic eligibility standards and who remain with the institution. A team's APR is the total points earned by the team at a given time divided by the total points possible, multiplied by 1,000. It includes four years (this year's numbers included the school years of 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 and 2010-11). High-performing teams receiving public recognition awards posted APR scores ranging from 978 to a perfect 1,000.

This year 954 teams (560 women's teams, 394 men's or mixed teams) were publically recognized for high academic achievement. In all, 263 institutions (out of 347 Division I schools) placed at least one team on the list. Last year 909 teams were recognized.

Multi-year APR scores for all Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving public recognition awards, will be announced next Thursday, June 20. That announcement will also include immediate and historical penalties for low-performing teams.

“These kinds of APR numbers continue to point out that our student-athletes and our staff continue to take seriously our goal of stressing the importance of academic success,” Wilson said. “Our coaches, our academic support system and personnel, and our student-athletes are doing a good job.”

A total of 18 awards went to Ohio Valley Conference teams, the second-most number of awards the league has earned in the seven-year history of the award.

In addition to the two Golden Eagle squads, OVC teams honored include six from SIUE (men’s cross country, women’s soccer, softball, women’s tennis, men’s indoor track and field and men’s outdoor track and field), three each from Eastern Illinois (men’s golf, women’s golf and women’s tennis) and Murray State (men’s golf, women’s golf and men’s tennis) and one apiece from Eastern Kentucky (men’s tennis), Jacksonville State (women’s tennis), Morehead State (women’s volleyball) and Southeast Missouri State (men’s cross country).