Courtesy of GoGriffs.com
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Three Canisius College athletic teams earned the NCAA Public Recognition Award based on their most recent multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR), the NCAA announced on Wednesday. The Golden Griffin golf, volleyball and men’s cross country teams all earned the honor, which is presented to teams with APRs in the top-10 percent of their sport nationally for the four-year period ending in 2011-12. The three teams honored are the most for Canisius in a single year.
This marks the second consecutive year where the NCAA has honored the golf program, and for volleyball this is the Blue and Gold’s fifth public recognition award since the NCAA started the program in 2004-05. Those five awards are the most of any volleyball program in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. This is the first time the men’s cross country program has been acknowledged by the NCAA for this award.
Each year, the NCAA honors selected Division I sports teams by publicly recognizing their latest multiyear APR. This announcement is part of the overall Division I academic reform effort and is intended to highlight teams who demonstrate a commitment to academic progress and retention of student-athletes by achieving the top APRs within their respective sports. Specifically, these teams posted multiyear APRs in the top 10 percent of all squads in each sport.
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 by the NCAA on June 11.
Additionally, the Canisius athletic department announced today that the College’s 359 student-athletes posted a cumulative grade point average of 3.201 for the spring 2013 semester. A total of 269 student-athletes (74.9 percent) had a grade point average of 3.0 or better and 14 Griffs had a perfect 4.0 grade point average for the spring semester.
“The 2012-13 year was a tremendously successful year for the Canisius athletic department, highlighted by three teams winning conference championships and advancing to the NCAA Tournament,” Canisius Director of Athletic Bill Maher said. “But with all the success in the playing arena, our student-athletes also understand that they have a responsibility in the classroom. I believe that these NCAA Public Recognition Awards and the outstanding overall academic achievement of our teams illustrates how much we value their overall development as young men and women. We are very proud of their work as both students and as athletes.”
Thirteen of the College’s 17 varsity teams recorded a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher in the spring 2013 semester, with the hockey team leading the way with a 3.48 GPA. The women’s swimming and diving program (3.44) and the softball team (3.41) also had a semester grade point average of 3.4 or better, while men’s cross country (3.38), women’s cross country (3.38), volleyball (3.38), synchronized swimming (3.38) and women’s soccer (3.35) were all better than a 3.30 for the semester. For the entire 2012-13 academic year, 12 programs had a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, led by the hockey team’s 3.43 team GPA.
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