University of Richmond Athletics
National Champs Among Four Spider Teams Honored For Academic Performance
April 22, 2009
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond football team, which captured the 2008 Division I National Championship, was honored by the NCAA on Wednesday, receiving a public recognition award for its Academic Progress Score. The Spiders' baseball, men's indoor and outdoor track & field teams were also recognized.
These four squads posted multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. The public recognition awards are part of the broad Division I academic reform effort. High-performing teams receiving awards posted APR scores ranging from 976 to a perfect 1,000 over the data collection period.
"We are pleased with the success of all of sports in the classroom, and are especially proud to see the football, baseball and men's indoor and outdoor track teams recognized for being among the top performing teams for their sport in academics, year in and year out," said Bruce Matthews, the University's assistant athletic director for academics.
The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester 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 Richmond football team was one of four reigning national champions to be honored, joining North Carolina (men's basketball), Connecticut (women's basketball) and Southern California (women's swimming).
Both of Richmond's football team and men's indoor track & field team were recognized for the second-consecutive season.
Head Coach Mike London's football team was one of just 23 other Division-I institutions to earn the award, along with such teams as Duke, Stanford, Air Force and Navy. CAA Football schools accounted for four of the 23 teams honored (Richmond, New Hampshire, William & Mary, Villanova).
The Spiders had four student-athletes earn CAA Football Academic All-Conference honors in 2008 - senior TB Josh Vaughan, junior OL Michael Silva, junior OL Chris Kondorossy and sophomore RB Tyler Kirchoff.
The baseball team, under the direction of head coach Mark McQueen, was one of 31 nationally to earn the award. It joined three others from the Atlantic 10 - Fordham, Saint Joseph's and Charlotte. Senior relief pitcher Josh Horn was recently honored as the Spiders' graduating male athlete (all sports) with the highest grade point average.
On the track, the men's indoor team was one 28 nationally, while the men's outdoor team was one of 29. Head coach Steve Taylor's teams joined Saint Louis as the only squads from the A-10. Junior Matt Llano, who runs track and cross country, was recognized in the fall as the A-10 Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Year.
The football team and the baseball team were two of six Spider teams that posted their highest term GPAs on record last fall. Men's basketball, men's golf, women's golf and women's swimming all had their best term GPAs in the fall of 2008.
Nationally, the teams recognized this year for high achievement represent 11.9 percent of the approximately 6,484 Division I teams. The list includes 448 women's teams and 319 men's or mixed squads.