July 3, 2008

Coral Gables, Fla.-- The University of Miami's men's outdoor track and men's cross country teams have been awarded the NCAA Public Recognition Award. The award is presented to those teams that have an NCAA Division I Academic Progress Report (APR) in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sport.

Commenting on the awards, Mike Ward who coaches both teams said, "The members of the track and cross country teams are truly student-athletes. They train very hard for competition but they put an equal amount of energy and work into their academic studies. The recognition they are receiving is a result of that hard work and the efforts of our academic support personnel."

The cross country team had a perfect 1000 score in the APR while the outdoor track squad recorded a 990. In compiling the score, data from the 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic years was used with each scholarship student-athlete earning one point for being eligible and one point for retention per semester for a total of four points per academic year. That percentage is then multiplied by 1000 to provide each team with its APR.