June 5, 2013
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s golf team and men’s golf team have received public recognition awards for their Academic Progress Rate scores, the NCAA announced Wednesday.
The Wildcat squads received the award for placing in the top 10 percent of Division I schools in their respective sports. The APR provides a real-time look at a team’s academic success by the progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR marks are a four-year composite, covering the 2008-09 through 2011-12 school years, that measure eligibility, retention and graduation.
This is the first time that two UK teams have received the prestigious award in one year. It’s also the first time that a UK squad has won in consecutive years, as this marks two in a row for men’s golf. Prior to that, the UK men’s cross country team was recognized in 2010 and men’s basketball earned the honor in 2009.
“I’m very proud to have two teams win top-10 awards,” said Mitch Barnhart, UK Director of Athletics. “Obviously, the golfers have done their job in the classroom and I thank Coach (Golda) Borst and Coach (Brian) Craig for their efforts in managing their programs.”
“We are extremely excited about receiving the APR award from the NCAA,” Borst said. “We are proud of what our girls accomplish on the golf course, but we are also very excited about the things they achieve in the classroom. This team really embraces the student aspect of being a student-athlete and it goes to show that hard work pays off.”
“The UK men’s golf program is proud to accept this Academic Progress Rate honor for the second consecutive year,” Craig said. “This award is simply a reflection of two important groups. First, our guys are committed to their academics and do an excellent job in the classroom and taking care of their responsibilities. Second, a big thank you to our CATS program (Center for Academic and Tutorial Services) and, specifically, Amy Craiglow who is the finest academic counselor and mentor in all of collegiate athletics. I cannot say enough about Amy and all that she has done for this program for many years.”
In addition to their success in the classroom, the teams also are doing well on the course as both squads advanced to the 2013 NCAA Regional Tournament.
The APR scores of the UK golf teams, along with the scores of every Division I team in all sports, will be released by the NCAA on June 11. Teams are subject to penalties if the APR target score is not achieved.
Wednesday’s news is a continuation of the academic accomplishments of UK student-athletes over the past year. In October, it was announced that UK has broken or tied the NCAA Graduation Success Rate every year since the NCAA began measuring that statistic in 2005. UK athletes posted an overall grade-point average over 3.0 in both the fall 2012 and spring 2013 semesters, the first time that has happened in consecutive semesters, including a record 3.14 GPA in the spring.
