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Six Idaho teams set/tie APR program records

MOSCOW — Two Idaho Vandals programs — women’s cross country and women’s golf — posted perfect multi-year scores of 1,000 as the annual Academic Progress Rate (APR) report was released by the NCAA

Scores are calculated as the average over a four-year period. The most recent multi-year APRs are based on scores from the 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years.

It is the first time that women’s cross country had posted the perfect multi-year score, while it was the fourth straight season for women’s golf. The perfect scores put the teams in exclusive company, earning them the Public Recognition Awards from the NCAA. The Awards are given to programs that rank in the top 10 percent of their sport nationally.

Six teams set or tied program records for multi-year scores. Football, men’s track and field, women’s basketball, women’s cross country and women’s track and field all set program records, while women’s golf posted a perfect score to tie its previous record.

Football saw a large improvement on its multi-year score, jumping from 927 to 958. Football’s multi-year APR has gone up in each season since Paul Petrino took over in 2013. In 2014, the Vandal football team was ineligible for the postseason because of low APR scores.

In all, 13 of Idaho’s 14 programs (indoor/outdoor track and field are counted as one) either saw improvement or stayed level.

Six programs posted perfect single-year scores for the 2016-17 academic year — in men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s tennis, and men’s track and field. For women’s golf and women’s cross country it was at least their fourth consecutive year with perfect scores.

All of Idaho’s teams finished in the top half of the Big Sky for multi-year scores, with women’s cross country, women’s golf and women’s track and field leading the pack in their respective sports. Football, although not a member of the Big Sky at the time, would have ranked fourth among conference schools.

The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation each semester or academic term and provides a measure of each team’s academic performance.

Seven WSU teams

post perfect APR scores

Seven of Washington State University’s intercollegiate athletic programs posted perfect single-year APR scores.

For the 2016-17 academic year, women’s basketball, golf, rowing and volleyball, along with men’s golf, men’s cross country and baseball earned perfect single-year APR scores of 1,000. Last week, women’s golf was recognized by the NCAA for being among the top 10 percent among all programs nationally for posting a four-year APR score of 1,000, the second straight year to receive the honor.

The WSU football team recorded a four-year average score of 969, WSU’s highest four-year score in program history. Under head coach Mike Leach, the Cougars have set or tied the highest APR scores in program history in all six of his years. Cougar football also had a single-year score of 978, far surpassing the single-year average for football (965). The football program’s 978 single-year score for 2016-17 also marked a program best.

Following women’s golf, the next highest multi-year APR score at WSU was earned by the women’s volleyball team, which posted a four-year score of 989. Other women’s programs include rowing (988), track and field (987), basketball (986), soccer (985), swimming (984), tennis (969) and cross country (962).

In addition to football on the men’s side, golf led the way with an average four-year score of 986, followed by baseball (977), cross country (973), basketball (967) and track and field (965). Five of the six men’s programs either tied or improved their APR scores from the previous year.

Two EWU teams have perfect APR scores

Eastern Washington University women’s basketball and women’s tennis teams posted perfect multi-year scores of 1,000 in the APR figures released by the NCAA.

This is the fifth straight year the women’s basketball team has achieved a multi-year score of 1,000. Those two sports were joined by men’s and women’s cross country, soccer and volleyball with an APR of 1,000 in the 2016-17 season alone.

This announcement is part of the overall Division I academic reform effort and is intended to highlight teams that demonstrate a commitment to academic progress and retention of student-athletes by achieving the top APRs within their respective sports.

The APR provides a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR measures eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or academic term and provides a clear picture of the academic performance for each team in every sport. All teams must meet an academic threshold of 930 (multi-year) to qualify for the postseason and can face penalties for continued low academic performance.

Last Wednesday, women’s basketball and women’s tennis received NCAA Public Recognition Awards for posting scores in the top 10 percent of their sport in the multi-year APR.

Three locals in top 25

at Washington Open

KENT, Wash. — Billy Bomar of Prairie Falls and North Idaho College men’s and women’s golf coach Russell Grove tied for 14th at the Washington Open, which concluded Wednesday at Meridian Valley Country Club.

Bomar shot 73-69-78—220, and Grove shot 73-75-72—220.

Amateur Reid Hatley of Hayden Lake tied for 22nd after shooting 73-73-75—221.

Ryan Benzel of Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash., shot a 3-under 213 and won by one stroke for his fifth Pacific Northwest Section major.