Photo Courtesy of Ed Davis

Team Award Winners By Sport / By Institution

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The University of Delaware men’s cross country, tennis, and outdoor track teams as well as the women’s softball, soccer, and tennis squads were among nearly 800 NCAA Division I sports team recognized for top academic performance as part of the NCAA’s academic reform program announced Wednesday.

Based on their most recent multi-year Academic Progress Rates, those six Blue Hen teams have earned NCAA Public Recognition Awards. These awards are given each year to teams scoring in the top 10 percent in each sport with their APRs.

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.

A total of 29 teams from the Colonial Athletic Association were honored led by James Madison’s seven teams (men’s tennis, women’s cross country, women’s golf, women’s tennis, women’s indoor track & field, women’s outdoor track & field, volleyball). Delaware and William & Mary (football, men’s gymnastics, women’s gymnastics, women’s indoor track, women’s outdoor track, volleyball), placed second with each having six teams honored.

George Mason (softball, women’s tennis, men’s basketball) had three teams honored, Drexel (men’s basketball, women’s basketball), and Virginia Commonwealth (men’s basketball, men’s tennis) each had two teams recognized, and Hofstra (softball), Northeastern (women’s rowing), and UNC Wilmington (men’s basketball) each had one team. Georgia State, Towson, and Old Dominion did not have any teams honored.

Only 37 of the 331 Division I college and universities throughout the nation had as many or more teams honored than Delaware and the Blue Hen men’s cross country, men’s outdoor track, and women’s soccer squads were the lone teams from the CAA to be honored in their sport. The UD men’s tennis, women’s tennis, and softball teams were each one of only three CAA teams honored in those sports.

Nationally, 58 teams were honored in women’s tennis, 36 in men’s cross country, 35 in women’s soccer, 33 in softball, 29 in men’s outdoor track, and 27 in men’s tennis.

Sophomore women's tennis player Megan Doran (at right) carries the team's highest grade point average and is among five team members who carry a 3.0 or better mark.

High-performing teams receiving public recognition awards this year posted APR scores ranging from 976 to a perfect 1,000, said NCAA President Myles Brand.

“The vast majority of sports teams are performing very well academically and exceeding the 925 threshold for their APR scores,” Brand said. “Nearly 800 of these teams are worthy of special attention, and I commend them for their excellence in academics and athletics.”

The 767 teams publicly 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.

A total of 205 institutions, out of 331 Division I colleges and universities, placed at least one team on the top APR list. Another six schools that offer athletics in more than one division, out of 50 overall that do so within the NCAA, placed Division I teams on the list as well.

For the third consecutive year, Yale University had the most teams (28) recognized. By conference, the Ivy Group had the most number of teams honored (144), followed by the Patriot League (85) and the Big East Conference (60).

Last year, a total of 712 teams were recognized. The number of teams in some sports may exceed 10 percent depending on how many achieved perfect 1,000 APR scores.

Multi-year APR scores for all Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving public recognition awards, will be announced May 6. The announcement also will include immediate and historical penalties for low-performing teams. The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on scores from the 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 academic years.