On Wednesday, the NCAA recognized Division I athletic teams for outstanding multiyear Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores.  The University of Wyoming men's golf team and women's tennis team were among the honored teams.  Both teams achieved perfect APR scores of 1,000 for the most recent four-year period ending with the 2015-16 academic year.  Teams must rank in the Top 10 percent nationally of their respective sports' APR scores to be honored.  

It marked the fifth consecutive reporting period that the Cowboy golf team recorded a perfect score based on its four-year average.  The women's tennis team has earned a perfect 1,000 score for the last three consecutive reporting periods based on its four-year average.

"We are extremely proud of the work done by those student-athletes and the job done by their coaches in providing them an environment to excel," said UW Athletics Director Tom Burman.  "A perfect APR score is very challenging to achieve.  What makes it even more special is both of those programs, men's golf and women's tennis, had very good years competitively."

"We start by recruiting student-athletes who want to be here and be a part of Wyoming Athletics and Wyoming Golf," said UW Director of Golf and Head Men's Golf Coach Joe Jensen.  "I think as an athletics department, we do a great job of making our student-athletes feel part of something special.  I believe our golfers feel part of a family here.  All that adds to the positive experience for our players and helps us in retaining our student-athletes.

"We work hard at emphasizing to our student-athletes the importance of achieving at a high level academically, and our academic counseling office plays an instrumental role in working with our players to make sure they meet all their academic requirements." 

"First and foremost, I think what we should be doing here is graduating student-athletes," said Head Women's Tennis Coach Dean Clower.  "We have graduated every tennis student-athlete we've had during my time here, and I'm very proud our staff has been able to continue to do that through the years. 

"Our academic staff, tutors and mentors work tireless hours to make sure our student-athletes have the opportunity to succeed in whatever degree programs they choose.

"Our women take a lot of pride in their academics.  Obviously, they love tennis, but our student-athletes come here to earn a degree so they can have a better life after they graduate."

The APR four-year averages are based on two factors: the retention rate of scholarship student-athletes and the academic eligibility of scholarship student-athletes over the four-year period.  The most recent multiyear period measured was from the 2012-13 through the 2015-16 academic years.

      The APR is calculated as follows:

•Each student-athlete receiving athletically-related financial aid earns one point for staying in school and one point for being academically eligible.

•A team's total points are divided by points possible and then multiplied by 1,000 to equal the team's Academic Progress Rate.

•In addition to a team's current-year APR, its rolling four-year APR is also used to determine accountability.

Currently, teams must earn a 930 four-year average APR to participate in NCAA championships.