Fordham University Teams Honored by NCAA for High Academic Achievement

APR Public Recognition Awards
 
Bronx, NY (May 20, 2015) – Nine Fordham University athletic teams were among more than 1,000 Division I squads to be publicly recognized by the NCAA for their latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores, posting multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. Additionally, Fordham was recognized as just one of 50 NCAA Division I programs, and one of three current Atlantic 10 schools, that have one or more teams that have been recognized in each of the ten years they have been awarded.
 
The nine teams honored is the second most of any Atlantic 10 school. Davidson had 13 teams honored followed by Fordham and then Dayton and George Washington, who each had seven teams recognized.
 
The APR measures eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or quarter and provides a clear picture of the academic performance for each team in each sport.
 
The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on scores from 2010-11, 2011-2012, 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years.
 
Being honored for the Rams are Baseball, Golf, Men's Swimming and Diving, Men's Tennis, Men's Indoor Track and Field, Men's Outdoor Track and Field, Water Polo, Women's Indoor Track and Field, and Women's Tennis. Women's Indoor Track and Field and Women's Tennis have both been honored in each of the ten years the NCAA has released the scores while baseball is recognized for the eighth time, the Men's Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field programs are recognized for the sixth time as is the Men's Swimming & Diving program, and the golf and water polo squads are recognized for the second time.
 
"To be one of just 50 NCAA Division I programs that have had a team honored in each of the ten years is a tremendous achievement," said Director of Athletics, David Roach. "The results are a testament to the Fordham student-athlete's desire to compete, both on the field and in the classroom. As proud as we are of our three conference championship teams this year, we are equally proud of the nine teams who are recognized by the NCAA for their academic accomplishments. Those teams, along with their coaching staffs, are great representatives of Fordham Athletics and Fordham University."
 
APRs for all Division I teams will be released May 27. The APR is an annual scorecard of academic achievement calculated for all Division I sports teams nationally. Teams must meet a certain academic threshold to qualify for the postseason and can face penalties for continued low academic performance.
 
The 1,124 teams publicly recognized for high achievement represent 696 women's teams and 428 men's or mixed squads, the highest ever in the decade since the NCAA began the Public Recognition Awards program. In 2014, 1,049 teams were recognized, marking an increase this year of 75 teams.
 
The scores required to be in the top ten ranged from 980 to a perfect 1,000, depending on the sport. This year, a record 953 teams earned public recognition with a perfect APR score.
 
"We congratulate each of the teams and individual student-athletes for their dedication to academic success," said NCAA President Mark Emmert. "This achievement demonstrates their hard work and the commitment of NCAA member schools to provide students with an opportunity to succeed academically and athletically."
 
The NCAA honors are the latest academic accolades bestowed upon Fordham student-athletes.  In 2014-2015, two student-athletes Brett Biestek and Dan Light from the football team were named Capital One Academic All-Americans^® while Michele Daubman (Softball) and Nicole Arrato (Rowing) were recently named Capital One Academic All-District and are under consideration for Capital One Academic All-America^® honors. Biestek and Light were also named Academic All-Patriot League for football, with Biestek also being named the league's football Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In the Atlantic 10, Lisa Hipp (Volleyball), Matthew Kozuch (Baseball), Ryan McNally (Baseball), Joe Runco (Baseball), Jon Severe (Men's Basketball) and Steve Sholdra (Men's Swimming) were all named Academic All-Conference. Additionally, seven water polo student-athletes (Bobby Wurtz, Mike Hay, Ori Raz, Alex Jahns, Alon Yoeli, Grant Keesling and Davis DeFontes) were honored with Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches All-Academic awards and were also named to the Collegiate Water Polo Association Varsity Scholar Athlete Team.
 
In the fall, 35 football student-athletes were named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll, 139 student-athletes were named to the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll for the fall semester (second among the 14 conference schools) and 348 student-athletes were honored at the 2015 Breakfast for Champions for compiling a 3.0 cumulative GPA or higher. The 348 student-athletes honored represented over 65% of the student-athletes at Fordham.
 
Among team honors, both the men' sand women's soccer teams were National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Team Academic Award winners, while the both the men's and women's cross country squads were named U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I All-Academic Cross Country teams.