Fordham led all schools in the A-10 with 10 teams earning Public Recognition Awards.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Atlantic 10 Conference had 56 sports teams earn Public Recognition Awards, including three teams that compete in non-league-sponsored sports, based on the most recent multi-year Academic Progress Rates, as announced by the NCAA on Tuesday, May 17.
A total of 909 teams competing at the Division I level were honored for their high marks academically, as the Public Recognition Awards are given each year to teams scoring in the top 10 percent in each sport with their APRs.
Of the 335 Division I colleges and universities, 239 institutions placed at least one team on the top APR list including 12 schools from the A-10. Eleven of those 12 schools from the A-10 had multiple teams garner distinction, while all 21 league-sponsored sports were represented by at least one program.
Among the 31 Division I conferences, the Atlantic 10 Conference ranked fifth behind the Ivy Group (135), the Patriot League (82), the Big East Conference (77) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (61).
“To be among the top five conferences in the nation is a true testament to the hard work and dedication of our student-athletes to perform at the highest level in the classroom,” stated Atlantic 10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade. “I congratulate all our student-athletes for their continued success.”
Seventeen A-10 student-athletes earned Academic All-America honors during the 2009-10 season, while 1,199 student-athletes were named to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll in the Fall of 2009 and 1,180 were recognized on the Commissioner’s Honor Roll for their work in the classroom during the Spring of 2010. To be listed on the Commissioner’s Honor Roll, a student-athlete in an Atlantic 10-sponsored sport must have a 3.5 GPA or better (on a 4.0 scale) during the specified semester.
Women’s tennis and men’s outdoor track and field had a league-high five A-10 teams honored, while men’s cross country, men’s indoor track and field and women’s outdoor track and field each had four schools receive recognition. Overall, Fordham led the A-10 as 10 teams were recognized among the 21 league-sponsored sports followed by Xavier with seven and George Washington with six.
The women’s golf programs at Dayton and Xavier were also honored for their outstanding academic achievement, while the Flyer football program was recognized as well. Xavier and Dayton had a total of eight and six teams honored, respectively, during the 2009-10 academic calendar.
This year, top-performing teams posted APR scores ranging from 977 to a perfect 1,000. The number of teams in some sports may exceed 10 percent depending on the number of perfect scores. Last year, 841 teams were recognized. In six years of the NCAA’s academic reform program, 1,992 different teams have received Public Recognition Awards, representing 31 percent of eligible sports teams during that time. Of that total, 260 teams have received Public Recognition Awards each of the six years of the program.
Below are the 56 Atlantic 10 teams honored for academic performance:
Baseball – Saint Joseph’s, Xavier
Men’s Basketball – Dayton
Men’s Cross Country – Charlotte, Fordham, George Washington, Rhode Island
Men’s Golf – Charlotte, Dayton
Men’s Soccer – Fordham, George Washington, Richmond
Men’s Swimming & Diving – Fordham, Xavier
Men’s Tennis – George Washington Xavier
Men’s Indoor Track & Field – Charlotte, Fordham, Richmond, Saint Louis
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field – Charlotte, Fordham, Massachusetts, Richmond, Saint Louis
Women’s Basketball – Dayton, La Salle
Women’s Cross Country – Fordham, Rhode Island
Field Hockey – La Salle, Temple
Women’s Lacrosse – Saint Joseph’s
Rowing – Dayton, La Salle, Saint Joseph’s
Women’s Soccer – Fordham, George Washington, Massachusetts
Softball – Massachusetts
Women’s Swimming & Diving – George Washington
Women’s Tennis – Charlotte, Fordham, George Washington, Saint Louis, Xavier
Women’s Indoor Track & Field – Fordham, Saint Joseph’s, Xavier
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field – Fordham, Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis, Xavier
Volleyball – Xavier
Football* – Dayton
Women’s Golf* – Dayton, Xavier
* denotes – non-league sponsored sports
About the A-10
The Atlantic 10 Conference was formed in 1976 and celebrates its 35th anniversary as a Division I Conference in 2010-11. Currently comprised of 14 member institutions and sponsoring 21 championship sports, the mission and goal of the Atlantic 10 is to preserve, protect, and enhance the academic and athletic pursuits of the membership. The conference is committed to integrity, educational excellence and providing quality equitable championship experiences for more than 6,000 student-athletes, coaches, and support staff. The member institutions of the Atlantic 10 are the University of Dayton, Duquesne University, Fordham University, The George Washington University, La Salle University, University of Massachusetts, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of Rhode Island, University of Richmond, St. Bonaventure University, Saint Joseph’s University, Saint Louis University, Temple University, and Xavier University.
Related to this, a look at the national leaders for APR:
https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2011/05/18/were-1-were-1/