FOUR UM ATHLETIC TEAMS HONORED BY THE NCAA

April 22, 2009

Coral Gables, Fla.–Four University of Miami athletic squads were among those honored today by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for their latest Academic Progress Report scores (APR).

The men’s cross country, men’s diving, men’s indoor track and men’s outdoor track teams were recognized as having posted multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. Those teams recognized this year had an APR score of between 976 and a perfect 1000.

“We are very proud of the teams that have earned this tremendous recognition by the NCAA,” said UM Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt. “As a department our mission is dedicated to developing and supporting student-athletes in their efforts to achieve personal, academic and athletic excellence. I am confident that all Hurricane fans join me in congratulating these young men on this high standard of academic achievement.”

The APR is designed to provide a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester by tracking academic progress for each student-athlete. Each year a student-athlete may earn one point for being eligible and one point for retention per semester for a total of four points per academic year. The total points are then divided by the number of potential points each team could have earned. That percentage is then multiplied by 1000 to provide each team with its APR. The NCAA has established 925 as the cut-off mark for an acceptable score. Any team below that standard may be subject to penalties.

Results for every team by sport will be released on Wednesday, May 6. Those scores will be based on the 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 academic years.