April 24, 2008

OXFORD, Ohio - A trio of Miami University athletic teams--men's golf, women's soccer and women's tennis--are among only 712 Division I collegiate programs honored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to receive public recognition awards for their exceptional performance in the classroom.

These teams posted multi-year Academic Progress Rate (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.

Coach John Wiler's RedHawk men's golf squad and Coach Howard Joffe's women's tennis team had perfect 1,000 APR scores, while Coach Bobby Kramig's women's soccer program notched a nearly perfect 997 APR.

Nationally, Miami was one of only 32 men's golf programs that were honored, one of only 46 women's tennis teams recognized, and one of only 31 women's soccer that earned the honor.

Other Miami programs with impressive APR scores but who fell just a few points short of earning public recognition awards include field hockey (996), women's cross country (992), men's cross country (985) and ice hockey (981).

"We are very proud of the national acclaim that the golf, soccer and tennis teams have brought to both our department and to the university," said Brad Bates, Miami's director of athletics. "Ultimately, our goal is to accomplish intellectual and competitive excellence throughout our entire program."

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.

In 2006-07, eight different Miami programs had perfect 1,000 APR scores, including golf, soccer, tennis, men's cross country, women's cross country, field hockey, softball and women's swimming.

Multi-year APR scores for all 6,110 Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving public recognition awards, will be announced May 6. The announcement also will include immediate and historical penalties for low-performing teams.

--www.MURedHawks.com--