INDIANAPOLIS - A pair of Middle Tennessee athletic programs have earned Public Recognition Awards as released by the NCAA on Wednesday.
Blue Raider men's golf and men's cross country received recognition based on their most recent multi-year Academic Progress Rates. It marks the third year in a row men's golf has earned the honor.
These awards are given each year to teams scoring in the top 10 percent in each sport with their APRs. The Blue Raiders join Florida Atlantic as the only programs in the Sun Belt to have more than one sport honored. Middle Tennessee will begin Conference USA action for the 2013-14 season.
"The academic and athletic success of our programs reflects the commitment to excel in the classroom and at winning championships from Dr. (Sidney) McPhee on down," said Director of Athletics Chris Massaro. "We have hard-working student-athletes that have dedicated themselves to academics and athletics on a daily basis, and that is a foundation for success. Our emphasis on the importance of both areas enables our programs to win the league's all-sports trophy year after year while continuously achieving academic success."
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 rate measures eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or quarter and provides a clear picture of the academic performance in each sport. The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on scores from the 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-2012 academic years.
Full APR scores for all teams, including penalties for low-performing teams, will be released June 11.
The 976 teams publicly recognized for high achievement represent 594 women's teams and 382 men's or mixed squads. A total of 268 schools, out of 346 Division I colleges and universities, placed at least one team on the top APR list. Only 61 schools have received Public Recognition Awards in each of the eight years of the program.
