Arkansas Women’s Golf Earns APR National Recognition

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – For a program-record seventh time, the University of Arkansas women’s golf program earned a public recognition award for its exemplary academic performance from the NCAA on Wednesday. The Razorbacks’ women’s golf program was honored for its standing among the top 10 percent of academic performing teams in the country among women’s golf programs in the multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) for the 2014-15 academic year.

“Helping young women learn and grow through academics, life experiences and athletics is part of our mission as coaches at the University of Arkansas and I couldn’t be more proud of our team’s accomplishments, especially in the classroom,” Arkansas head women’s golf coach Shauna Estes-Taylor said. “This is our seventh NCAA APR Recognition Award and it is just as important to us as winning any golf tournament. We recruit young women who value education and who want to grow in all areas. I’m proud that our team’s hard work is showing these kinds of results.”

The women’s golf program earned a perfect 1,000 multiyear APR rate based on scores from the 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years. In addition to this year’s selection, the Razorback women’s golf program was previously recognized for the 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

“With a total of 12 NCAA public recognition awards during the past four years, our program continues to demonstrate the opportunity for our more than 460 student-athletes to achieve excellence both in the classroom and in athletic competition at the University of Arkansas,” Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long said. “I want to congratulate Coach Estes-Taylor and her staff as well as the young women in her program on earning this prestigious national distinction. Our women’s golf program is a great example of how academic and athletics success can work together to further meet our mission of developing student-athletes to their fullest potential through intercollegiate athletics.”

Each year, the NCAA honors selected Division I sports teams by publicly recognizing their latest multiyear NCAA Division I APR. 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. Specifically, these teams posted multiyear APRs in the top 10 percent of all squads in each sport.

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 accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation and provides a measure of each team’s academic performance. The NCAA is announcing multiyear APR scores for all Division I teams, including those earning public recognition awards, on April 20.

The University of Arkansas has earned a public recognition award in 10 of the 11 years since the program was initiated. In addition to women’s golf, five other programs have previously been recognized.

Men’s golf and volleyball were both recognized in 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. Gymnastics was recognized in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12. Men’s tennis was honored in 2010-11 and 2011-12. Swimming and diving was one of five programs, a school record, recognized in 2011-12 joining men’s golf, men’s tennis, gymnastics and volleyball.

For more information regarding Razorback Athletics, please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.