For the third time for each program, the University of Nevada, Reno men's golf and rifle teams have earned Public Recognition Awards as part of the NCAA Division I Academic Performance Program.

Each of the teams scored a perfect 1,000 on the academic progress rate (APR) during the 2011-12 academic year and each has a multiyear average of 1,000 after scoring a perfect score for each of the last four years. The Public Recognition Award comes for being part of the top 10 percent of all teams in their sport. The NCAA will announce complete APR scores for all teams next week.

This is the third consecutive year that Nevada's men's golf team has been publicly recognized and it marks the second straight season of recognition for the rifle team, which also was honored for 2008-09.

"It is a significant achievement for a team to be recognized publicly by the NCAA for one season of excellence, " said Jean Perry, Nevada's Faculty Athletic Representative and Special Assistant to the President for Athletics Academics and Compliance. "For these teams to be honored for the third time each is an accomplishment to be celebrated."

The data used for this year's APR is through the 2011-12 season, which means student-athletes who competed between the 2008-09 season and the 2011-12 season contributed to the high marks.

For the men's golf team, that includes a number of standouts, including Taylor Coffman, Ryan Hallisey and Scott Smith. Hallisey works locally at the Sierra Nevada Corporation in Reno while Coffman recently completed a master's degree in mathematics from Nevada. Smith is a professional who has played in two PGA Tour events and last year qualified for the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club.

"I'm proud of the accomplishments of our players, on and off the course and thrilled that our program has received this prestigious recognition for the third year in a row," men's golf coach Jacob Wilner said.

Nevada rifle coach Fred Harvey noted that many of his student-athletes from those seasons are either in or have completed graduate school, including Andy Hickey, a former All-American, in graduate school at Nevada, and Heather Horn, who recently completed a master's degree in film production from Chapman University.

"Dempster Christenson, who was a six-time NRA All-American, is not in graduate school but he is on the U.S. National Team and he has won an Olympic slot for the United States team for the next Games in Brazil," Harvey said.

About this announcement:
Each year, the NCAA honors selected Division I sports teams by publicly recognizing their latest multiyear NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (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.  This year's release will again include recognition in the sport of football by subdivision (i.e., Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision).

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.