Four Virginia Tech teams receive NCAA Public Recognition Award

The annual honor goes to teams with an Academic Progress Rate that ranks in the top 10 percent of its sport

May 16, 2018

BLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech women’s tennis, women’s golf, women’s track and field, and baseball teams received Public Recognition Awards from the NCAA for top scores in the classroom, as announced by the NCAA on Wednesday.

Public Recognition Awards get handed out based on a sport’s multi-year Academic Progress Rate, better known as the “APR.” The APR is an annual scorecard of academic achievement calculated for all Division I sports teams nationally. It measures eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or quarter and provides a clear picture of the academic performance for each team in each sport. Teams must meet a certain academic threshold to qualify for the postseason, and they also can face penalties for continued low academic performance. The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on scores from the 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years.

The Tech women’s golf, women’s tennis and women’s track and field teams each recorded perfect multi-year APRs of 1,000 and ranked tied first in the ACC in their respective sports. Thus, all three programs were recipients of the NCAA’s Public Recognition Award, which goes to programs with a multi-year APR in the top 10 percent nationally of all squads in each sport. This year marks the second straight in which the women’s tennis program finished with an APR above 1,000 and received a Public Recognition Award.

The Tech baseball program recorded a multi-year APR of 995 – its highest ever. This year marks the first year in which the baseball program has been honored with a Public Recognition Award.

The actual APR for each Division I team will be released May 23.

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