April 27, 2007

Indianapolis, IN - The NCAA Committee on Academic Performance (CAP) has recognized three of IPFW's athletic programs as being in the Top 10 based on the NCAA Academic Progress Rate, or APR.

The APR measures term-by-term academic progress for every student-athlete on Division I sports teams.

While all of IPFW's 16 programs are above the NCAA benchmark for academic progress, Men's Cross Country, Men's Tennis, and Women's Volleyball rank in the Top 10 percent nationally.

"These teams prove once again that student-athletes are students first," said NCAA President Miles Brand in a statement released by the NCAA.

"I want to personally congratulate these teams and their student-athletes who are working hard in their sport and in the classroom and setting a great example for all student-athletes."

IPFW Director of Athletics Mark Pope echoed Brand's praise for IPFW's student-athletes, who have achieved a departmental 3.0 grade point average for the past three years.

"For the second year, IPFW Athletics is honored to be included in the NCAA's list of Elite Academic Programs," he said.  "I extend our Department's sincere congratulations to Coach Kelley Hartley Hutton (WVB), Coach Eric Burns (MT), and Coach Mike Fruchey (MXC) for their efforts. Our congratulations also to our Student-Athlete Services Team for creating the environment for this remarkable academic success."

As Pope alluded to, this is the second year for the NCAA Academic Recognition Program. 

The public recognition awards by sport and institution are listed on the NCAA website at ncaa.org.

Multi-year APR scores for all 6,110 Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving public recognition awards, will be announced Wednesday (May 2). The announcement also will include immediate and historical penalties for low-performing teams.

~Dons~