April 25, 2008

Indianapolis, IN - Two IPFW athletic teams have been honored by the NCAA in its annual Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR) Public Recognition Awards, released by the governing body in Indianapolis, Indiana.

IPFW's women's volleyball and men's cross country teams each ranked in the top 10 percent within their respective sports nationwide among NCAA Division-I programs for their academic progress rate as determined by the NCAA.

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.

"IPFW Athletics is very proud of the overall academic success that our student-athletes and teams continue to achieve on a yearly basis," IPFW Director of Athletics Tommy Bell said.

"This honor for our Women's Volleyball and Men's Cross Country teams could not be possible without a concerted effort between our student-athletes, athletic academic counseling team, coaches, and the outstanding faculty of IPFW. "

IPFW Athletic Department Faculty Academic Representative Dr. Elliot Blumenthal echoed Bell's comments.

"IPFW's Student Athletes have worked extremely hard over the past four years to maintain an overall grade point average of greater than 3.0. In our first year of play in the Summit League they have also demonstrated their outstanding ability to compete successfully at the Division I level. It is a great testament to not only our student athletes, but also to their coaches and the academic advisors, that we have maintained this level of success in both the academic and athletic arenas. The entire IPFW community should be very proud of the overall accomplishments not only of these teams, but every team and student athlete at IPFW."

High-performing teams receiving awards posted APR scores ranging from 965 to a perfect 1,000.

Multi-year APR scores for all 6,110 Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving public recognition awards, will be announced May 6.

~Dons~