May 17, 2011

DAVIS, Calif. - The UC Davis women's tennis team received recognition from the NCAA for the fourth consecutive year while the women's gymnastics team earned its first distinction, as both squads were honored Tuesday with Public Recognition Awards for Academic Progress Rate (APR).

The Aggie teams are among more than 900 Division I teams whose APR's rank among the top 10 percent of all teams in their respective sports. The APR calculation, which covers both student-athlete retention and eligibility, helps measure classroom performance of all Division I athletes.

The APR's of teams receiving Public Recognition Awards this year ranged from 977 to a perfect 1,000. In some sports, the number of teams honored exceeds 10 percent depending on the number of perfect scores.

UC Davis has had at least two teams receive the awards during each of the four years the NCAA has presented the recognition. Women's tennis has made the list all four years while gymnastics is doing so for the first time.

"Most student-athletes excel at balancing their academic and athletics commitments, yet each year there are those who perform at extraordinary levels," said NCAA President Mark Emmert in a news release announcing the awards. "By achieving the highest levels of academic success as a team, these young men and women truly embody what it means to be a successful NCAA student-athlete."

Nationwide, 239 of 335 Division I institutions had at least one team receive a Public Recognition Award. The multi-year APR's honored in this year's class covered the 2006-07 through 2009-10 academic years.