79 Patriot League Teams Earn NCAA Academic Performance Program Awards :: Bucknell Leads All Institutions with 15 Teams Honored

April 24, 2008

Center Valley, Pa. - Patriot League schools fared well in the release of the 2007-08 NCAA Division I Academic Performance Program Public Recognition Awards on Thursday, with the eight member schools combining to have 79 of their Patriot League-sponsored sports honored for their latest Academic Progress Rate scores.

Bucknell led all schools with 15 Patriot League-sponsored teams honored, followed by Holy Cross with 14 and Colgate, Lafayette and Lehigh each with 13. At least one school won a public recognition award in each of the Patriot League's 23 sports. A League-high six schools were recognized in men's tennis, with five honored in baseball and women's basketball.

The Patriot League's total was second among Division I conferences, trailing only the Ivy League. The Patriot League finished 30 teams ahead of the third-highest conference, the Big East.

The NCAA is honoring 712 Division I sports teams from 192 institutions with public recognition awards for their latest multi-year Academic Progress Rate scores. The teams recognized this year represent 11.4 percent of the 6,272 Division I teams. These teams posted multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. The public recognition awards are part of the broad Division I academic reform effort. Last year, a total of 839 teams were recognized. There are fewer awards this year than last year because there are fewer teams with perfect scores. There were 84 Patriot League teams honored a year ago.

The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester 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. High-performing teams receiving awards posted APR scores ranging from 965 to a perfect 1,000 over the data collection period.

Multi-year APR scores for all 6,272 Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving public recognition awards, will be announced May 6.

Patriot League Institutions Honored for Academic Performance

American University (1) - Swimming and Diving (M)

Bucknell University (15) - Baseball, Basketball (M), Cross Country (M/W), Football, Golf (M), Soccer (M/W), Tennis (M/W), Lacrosse (W), Rowing (W), Swimming and Diving (W), Indoor Track and Field (W), Outdoor Track and Field (W)

Colgate University (13) - Football, Golf (M), Lacrosse (M), Soccer (M), Swimming and Diving (M/W), Tennis (M), Indoor Track and Field (M/W), Basketball (W), Field Hockey, Outdoor Track and Field (W), Volleyball (W)

College of the Holy Cross (14) - Baseball, Basketball (M/W), Football, Golf (M), Swimming and Diving (M/W), Tennis (M), Cross Country (W), Lacrosse (W), Softball, Indoor Track and Field (W), Outdoor Track and Field (W), Volleyball (W)

Lafayette College (13) - Baseball, Cross Country (M/W), Lacrosse (M/W), Soccer (M), Swimming and Diving (M/W), Tennis (M/W), Indoor Track and Field (M), Outdoor Track and Field (M), Softball

Lehigh University (13) - Baseball, Cross Country (M/W), Tennis (M/W), Basketball (W), Lacrosse (W), Rowing (W), Soccer (W), Softball, Indoor Track and Field (W), Outdoor Track and Field (W), Volleyball (W)

United States Military Academy (2) - Basketball (W), Volleyball (W)

United States Naval Academy (8) - Baseball, Basketball (M/W), Lacrosse (M), Tennis (M), Indoor Track and Field (M), Outdoor Track and Field (M), Rowing (W)