Three Mizzou athletics women’s programs, basketball, tennis and cross country, were honored Tuesday by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) with Public Recognition Awards for their Academic Progress Rates (APR) during the 2018-19 academic year. All three programs registered perfect APR marks of 1,000.
“Academic success is a critical component of Mizzou Athletics’ Win it Right mission, and these awards demonstrate a commitment to classroom excellence by our student-athletes, coaches and Mizzou Made staff,” said Mizzou Director of Athletics Jim Sterk. “We are incredibly grateful for the critical role Mizzou’s faculty plays in the education of our 550 student-athletes and appreciate the positive learning environments they provide to all Mizzou students.”
It marks the fifth-straight year Mizzou women’s tennis has received an APR award, while women’s basketball garnered its second-straight (and sixth overall) award and cross country earned its first honor since 2005-06 (and fourth overall). Mizzou Athletics has now earned 51 all-time NCAA Public Recognition Awards in 13 different sports over the honor program’s 15-year history.
The Southeastern Conference’s 14-members earned a record 65 2018-19 Public Recognition Awards for APR success.
Sixteen of Mizzou’s 18 programs in which APR is registered either equaled or improved their multi-year APR score year over year from 2017-18 to 2018-19, led by double-digit increases in baseball (959 in 2017-18 to 974 in 2018-19) and women’s cross country’s (989 in 2017-18 to 1,000 in 2018-19). Mizzou’s sport-by-sport multiyear APRs for 2018-19 are:
Men’s Teams: Baseball (974), Basketball (958), Cross Country (986), Football (973), Golf (994), Swimming & Diving (992), Track & Field (956), Wrestling (989).
Women’s Teams: Basketball (1,000), Cross Country (1,000), Golf (992), Gymnastics (990), Softball (989), Soccer (990), Swimming & Diving (998), Tennis (1,000), Track & Field (996), Volleyball (990).
All told, 1,380 teams from 326 NCAA Division I institutions were recognized for academic excellence after scoring in the top 10 percent of their respective sports in the most recent Academic Progress Rates report.
The APR is an annual scorecard of academic achievement calculated for all Division I sports teams annually by the NCAA and measures eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or academic term while providing a clear picture of the ongoing academic performance for each team in every sport. All teams must meet an academic threshold of 930 to qualify for the postseason and can face penalties for continued low academic performance.
The most recent APRs are multiyear rates based on scores from the 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years.
