In Seattle University's first year of receiving an APR score for each of its sports, nine teams earned a perfect score of 1000, which accounts for a team's eligibility and retention of scholarship student-athletes. Men's basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country, women's golf, women's soccer, women's swimming, women's tennis, women's indoor track and field, and women's outdoor track and field all received the perfect score for the 2008-09 academic year.
"I am proud of the work our student-athletes have put into their commitments, especially in the classroom, as well as the type of programs our coaches have put together, resulting in these exemplary APR results," Bill Hogan, Director of Athletics, said. "We realize that these snapshots of academic progress are important to many people, and it will always be one of our top goals to have solid APR scores department-wide."
Of the other eight sports, all but one obtained a score above the 925 threshold that the NCAA has created for teams to achieve in order to avoid any penalties. Softball's score was 983, followed by men's indoor track and field and men's outdoor track and field at 980 each. Men's soccer earned a score of 975, women's volleyball was at 952, women's basketball posted a score of 942, and men's swimming finished with a score of 936.
Men's tennis collected a score of 883, but the NCAA has an adjustment that accounts for squad size in deciding whether or not a sport should be penalized, and that adjustment allowed men's tennis to remain penalty-free. The baseball program did not begin competition until the 2009-10 academic year, while the men's golf team did not participate in enough qualifying events to be counted as a Division I sport in the NCAA's eyes, so both teams did not receive APR scores for the 2008-09 year.
The Seattle University athletic department has continued to emphasize top performance both in academics and in sports. Over the past four years, Seattle U has been represented by two NCAA Woman of the Year semifinalists (Top 30), eight Academic All-America honorees, and 22 Academic All-District winners. On July 1, the department will begin Year Three of the reclassification process, which includes the eligibility of the men's soccer and women's soccer teams for the NCAA Tournament.