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Five Penn State teams have received a Public Recognition Award from the NCAA for earning high scores in the most recent Academic Progress Rate compilation, including the Nittany Li- ons' two most recent NCAA champi- onship squads. All five teams earned multiyear APR scores in the top 10 percent nationally for their respective sports through the 2014-15 academic year (data from 2011- 12 through 2014-15). The five Penn State squads recognized by the NCAA are: women's cross coun- try, women's hockey, women's soccer, women's tennis and wrestling. The women's soccer and wrestling programs have captured NCAA championships during the past four months. Penn State is the nation's only Football Bowl Subdivision institution that has two NCAA championship teams from the past two years (2014-15 and 2015- 16) that received an NCAA Public Recognition Award for the 2014-15 ac- ademic year. Duke, Georgia, Stanford, UCLA, Villanova and Virginia are among the schools that have had one national championship team the past two years that was recognized by the NCAA for its multiyear APR score. The NCAA also recognized the Nittany Lion women's cross country, women's hockey and wrestling teams with Public Recognition Awards last year. Led by Coach John Gondak, the women's cross country team has earned six consecutive Public Recognition accolades. The NCAA has recognized a total of 69 Penn State teams with a Public Recog- nition Award since the program's incep- tion in 2006. Penn State has placed fourth or higher in the number of Big Ten teams earning a Public Recognition Award in all 11 years of the program, tying for fourth in the 2014-15 compilation. The women's tennis squad has earned a Penn State-high 10 NCAA Public Recognition Awards in the 11 years of the program. The field hockey team has been honored nine times, and the women's cross country program has been recognized seven times. The women's golf squad and the wrestling program are next with six NCAA Public Recognition Awards. Penn State has had at least four teams earn NCAA Public Recognition Awards in all 11 years of the program. Twenty- one of Penn State's 31 programs have earned at least one NCAA Public Recog- nition Award since the program's in- ception. The NCAA's APR is designed to track the academic progress of each student- athlete on scholarship at a particular institution. It accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation each term to provide a clear measure of each team's academic performance. ■ DIRECTORS' CUP Nittany Lions remain among nation's top 10 Powered by the wrestling team's fifth NCAA championship in the past six years and a top-10 finish by the combined men's and women's fencing program, Penn State continued to maintain residence in the Learfield Directors' Cup top 10 as of mid- April. In the second winter sports compilation, released April 12, Penn State was ranked No. 10. It's the same spot the Nittany Li- ons occupied after the final fall standings were released, when they earned their ninth consecutive top-10 fall finish. Last year Penn State finished eighth in the final Directors' Cup standings, earning its third consecutive top-10 finish and 11th overall. PSU is one of only nine programs nationwide to have finished in the top 25 in all 22 Directors' Cup final standings. In the latest compilation, the Penn State men's and women's fencing teams earned 72 Directors' Cup points for their sixth- place finish at the NCAA championships. Sophomore Andrew Mackiewicz earned his second consecutive NCAA champi- onship in men's sabre, while junior Jessie Radanovich captured the NCAA title in women's epee. The Penn State women's swimming and diving squad earned 48.5 Directors' Cup points with its 25th-place finish at the NCAA championships. Senior Melissa Ro- driguez broke the school record in the 200 breaststroke to place 11th. The Penn State men's swimming and div- ing team earned 15 Directors' Cup points and was led by freshman Hector Garcia Boissier, who finished 15th in 1-meter div- ing at the NCAA championships. The Nit- tany Lions had three divers qualify for the NCAA meet for the first time since 1998. Led by a pair of national champions and five finalists, the Nittany Lion wrestling team was dominant in winning its fifth NCAA title in the past six years, giving Penn State 100 Directors' Cup points. First-team indoor track and field All- Americans Rachel Fatherly and Brannon Kidder also boosted Penn State's Direc- tors' Cup total, with the teams combining for 39 points. ACADEMICS PSU lauded for classroom performance ACADEMIC SUPERLATIVES • Penn State broke a school record dur- ing the 2015 fall semester with 516 stu- dent-athletes earning a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher. The previous high of 500 was set in 2014. Among the 516 Nittany Lions earning at least a 3.0 GPA, 234 garnered Dean's List hon- ors by posting a GPA of 3.5 or higher, the second-highest semester total in school history. • The combined average GPA of Penn State's 31 varsity teams was 3.11 during the 2015 fall semester, and a record-ty- ing 23 squads earned a team GPA of 3.0 or higher. • The NCAA's annual study of institu- tions nationwide revealed last October that Penn State student-athletes at the University Park campus earned a Graduation Success Rate of 88 percent compared to the 83 percent average for all Division I institutions for stu- dents entering from 2005-06 through 2008-09.

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