University of Richmond Athletics
Eight UR Teams Earn National Academic Recognition
05/08/2014 | Field Hockey, General, Men's Golf, Women's Soccer, Women's Track & Field, Men's Basketball, Academic Services
Eight Richmond teams earned national recognition from the NCAA in the Academic Progress Rate (APR), the NCAA announced Wednesday. These programs ranked in the top 10 percent of their respective sports in APR scores. This year's awards are compiled using the academic and retention rates for the 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years.
Spider field hockey, men's basketball, men's golf, men's indoor and outdoor track & field, women's soccer, women's indoor & outdoor track and field all received NCAA recognition. The field hockey team was the lone A-10 representative in that sport.
The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation and provides a measure of each team's academic performance.
The Atlantic 10 Conference had 58 of its teams earn national recognition from the NCAA, the most for the league since 2010. The A-10 ranked fifth in number of teams recognized among the 31 NCAA Division I conferences. The league also ranked fifth in the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate, which was released last fall.
Dayton and George Washington each had nine teams recognized, although two of the nine for each school were in non-A-10 sports and don't count towards the league's total of 58. Richmond had eight teams earn the public recognition, all of which are A-10 sponsored sports, and Fordham had seven teams. Because the APR totals are based on previous years data, former Atlantic 10 members count towards the conference's total, however new and incoming members George Mason and Davidson, do not yet count. The two newest members of the A-10 had a combined 17 teams acknowledged by the NCAA.
Each year, the NCAA honors selected Division I sports teams by publicly recognizing their latest multiyear NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR). This announcement is part of the overall Division I academic reform effort and is intended to highlight teams that demonstrate a commitment to academic progress and retention of student-athletes by achieving the top APRs within their respective sports. Specifically, these teams posted multiyear APRs in the top 10 percent of all squads in each sport.
The NCAA will release this year's full Academic Progress Rate report on May 14.