NCAA Recognizes Three University of Portland Teams for Academic Excellence

APR Awards

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- Three University of Portland athletics teams have been honored for earning Public Recognition Awards based on their most recent multi-year Academic Progress Rate, the NCAA announced on Wednesday. Portland's recognized programs were men's indoor track, women's cross country and women's indoor track. These awards are given each year to teams with APRs in the top 10 percent in each sport.

"Having multiple programs recognized for being among the academic elite eight consecutive years is a great accomplishment," said Scott Leykam, Portland's Athletic Director. "We take great pride in not only providing excellent opportunities for our student-athletes to be successful in competition, but also to achieve their academic goals and graduate with a valuable education."

The women's indoor track program earned its fifth straight Public Recognition Award. Men's indoor track was recognized for the fourth time, while women's cross country has now been honored each of the last three years.

Portland has had a total of 33 different teams earned Public Recognition Awards since the program's inception in 2005.

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.

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. 
 
Multiyear APRs for all Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving public recognition, will be announced on May 14. That announcement also will include APP penalties for low-performing teams, teams subject to postseason ineligibility and head coach APRs.