Curtis Hale from the men’s soccer team and Healy Bledsoe from the women’s basketball and lacrosse teams were named recipients of the annual Van Diest and Laura Golden awards, respectively, as Colorado College’s top male and female student-athletes among the 2025 graduating class.
    
The awards, given to the outstanding male and female student-athletes who demonstrate excellence in athletics, academics, leadership and college contribution, were presented on Tuesday, May 6, during the school’s honors convocation.
    
Hale earned his first All-America selection last fall and is the first player in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference history to win the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award three times.
 
The Richmond, Va., native also earned All-Region First Team honors for three consecutive seasons. Last fall, he started all 22 matches in 2024, racked up a career-high eight points (2g, 4a) and directed the CC defense that finished second in the nation in goals-against average (1.83).
 
Hale has a 3.81 grade-point average and is majoring in mathematical economics. He was named a CSC Academic All-American each of his last two seasons at Colorado College.

Bledsoe, meanwhile, helped the women’s basketball team to a program-record 23 victories and first appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament since 1990 this season. She was the SCAC Defensive Player of the Year as a junior.

 

The senior from Bend, Ore., was also a vital part of guiding the women’s lacrosse team to the NCAA Tournament each of the last two years, including a run to the Sweet 16 as a junior. Bledsoe was a first-team all-region selection in 2024 and a preseason All-America honorable mention heading into her senior campaign.

Bledsoe has a 3.87 grade-point average with a major in education and is a four-time selection to the CSC Academic All-District teams.

 

The Van Diest Award, named after former Colorado College trustee and local civic leader Edmond C. Van Diest, has been presented annually since 1936. The Laura Golden Award originated in 1981 in honor of the late women’s basketball coach and 1995 CC Athletics Hall of Fame inductee and has been awarded every year thereafter except for 1982 and 1995. 

Several other Colorado College student-athletes received an all-campus award on Tuesday:

 

Will Bavier (men’s soccer) – Japanese Language Award

 

Veronica Bianco (women’s soccer) – E.K. Gaylord Award for Journalism

 

Erin Capell (women’s track & field) – Robert William Kaye Prize for Economics & Business

 

Kaelin Enga (women’s soccer) – Mary Alice Hamilton Award in Organismal Biology and Ecology

 

Sean Lam (men’s track & field) – ACS Analytical Chemistry Award

Julien Lee (men’s cross country / track and field) – Award in Excellence in French

 

Alison Mueller-Hickler (women’s cross country / track and field) – Crown-Goodman Presidential Scholarship

 

Lola Muntiu (women’s swimming) – ACS Analytical Chemistry Award

 

Kelsey Shankle (women’s lacrosse) – Robert William Kaye Prize for Economics & Business

 

Ashley Stewart (women’s soccer) – Robert William Kaye Prize for Economics & Business

 

VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota volleyball and the Summit League announced the 2025 fall schedule Tuesday afternoon. The Coyotes will play 28 matches with 12 nonconference opponents and 16 Summit League regular season games.
 
Prior to the regular season, the Coyotes will host Northern Iowa for an exhibition at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center at 2 p.m. on August 23.
 

The nonconference schedule features four tournaments, including two in Vermillion at the SCSC. The Yotes head to Bozeman, Montana to kick off the season for a three-day tournament hosted by Montana State. In addition to facing the Bobcats, the Yotes will also take on Oregon and Prairie View A&M from August 29-31. The following weekend, South Dakota heads east to Storrs, Connecticut for a tournament including Colgate, Ball State and host team UCONN.

South Dakota’s home opener will be on day one of the Coyote Invitational on September 11 against Green Bay at 7 p.m. The Yotes face Florida Gulf Coast on September 12 at 7 p.m. and matchup with Kansas on September 13 at 5 p.m.

 

The Coyotes are back in Vermillion for the second weekend in a row when they welcome Villanova, Wichita State and Drake to the SCSC for the South Dakota Classic from September 18-20.

 

Of the 12 nonconference opponents, nine ended the 2024 season ranked inside the top-100 RPI and two were ranked inside the top-25 RPI (Kansas and Oregon). Five nonconference foes were NCAA Tournament Teams in 2024. Oregon was a Sweet 16 team and would fall in five to eventual National Champion Pittsburgh. Kansas advanced to the Round of 32, while Colgate, FGCU and Wichita State all fell in the first round.

The Yotes play four of the first six conference matches on the road against North Dakota (Sept 25), at Denver (Oct. 4), at Omaha (Oct. 11) and at Kansas City (Oct. 16). The conference home opener is that Saturday, September 27 when Oral Roberts visits the SCSC.

 

USD plays three of the last five matches in October in Vermillion starting with South Dakota State on Saturday, October 18 for a 6 p.m. match. The Yotes make a quick trip up to Fargo to face North Dakota State on Tuesday, October 21 before returning home for two straight home matches against Denver on Thursday, October 23 and North Dakota on Saturday, October 25. The Coyotes hit the road the following week for matches at St. Thomas (Oct. 30) and at South Dakota State (Nov. 1).

 

The final two weeks of the regular season has the Yotes in Vermillion in three of the final four matches starting on November 6 with USD hosting Omaha and on November 8 against Kansas City in the SCSC. South Dakota in on the road on November 15 at Oral Roberts, before returning home for the regular season finale against North Dakota State on November 18.

The top six teams of the Summit League standings will compete in the Summit League Tournament November 23-25 in Brookings. The Yotes won their fifth tournament championship in the last seven years last fall with a 3-2 win over SDSU. The winner of the tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

 

BATON ROUGE – LSU student-athletes continue to combine their success in competition with that of accomplishment in the classroom as 12 teams recorded a 990 or better, including eight with a perfect 1,000, as the NCAA released the Academic Progress Rate for institutions on Tuesday.

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.

LSU’s SEC Champion gymnastics teams led the way with a multi-year score of 1,000. Other teams recording a perfect multi-year score of 1,000 include men’s cross country, men’s tennis, women’s golf, women’s tennis, softball, beach volleyball and volleyball.

LSU’s sports with a multi-year score of 990 or better include baseball (993), men’s golf (993), women’s cross country (993), and women’s soccer (990).

The multi-year APR score takes into account classroom results for each team for the 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 academic years.

Overall, all of LSU’s sports teams achieved the NCAA minimum score of 930 in both the single and multi-year rate. Rounding out the multi-year APR scores for LSU were men’s basketball (938), football (952), men’s swimming and diving (969), men’s track and field (965), women’s basketball (978), women’s swimming and diving (984) and women’s track and field (977).

For the APR single-year rate, which is based on academic results from 2023-24, 14 LSU teams scored a perfect 1,000 with football leading the way with an all-time high for the program. Football’s APR accomplishment comes after the program recorded the highest grade point average for a semester on record during the fall with a 3.059 average.

Other teams tallying a perfect 1,000 in the single-year rate include: baseball, men’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, gymnastics, softball, soccer, beach volleyball, men’s and women’s tennis and volleyball.

LSU’s APR scores come after the university’s sports teams combined to score an 89 in the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate last fall. The 89 GSR mark extended LSU’s streak of consecutive years of scoring at least an 89 to eight.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Michigan Athletic Department had 14 varsity teams achieve perfect multiyear scores in the latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) released by the NCAA on Tuesday (May 6). The Wolverines had 10 women’s programs and four men’s programs post perfect multiyear scores as announced by the national office as part of the annual NCAA Division I Academic Performance Program.

The data for all schools includes the most current multiyear cohort (2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years). The 14 programs with perfect multiyear scores of 1,000 are men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s golf, women’s golf, men’s gymnastics, women’s gymnastics, women’s lacrosse, rowing, softball, women’s soccer, women’s tennis, men’s track and field, volleyball and water polo.

All 27 Michigan teams included in the report scored well above the threshold required by the NCAA to remain in good standing; the minimum APR academic standard for each program is 930.

Michigan had 21 of its 27 varsity teams score a perfect 1,000 APR rate during the 2023-24 academic year. On the women’s side, 12 of the school’s 14 teams posted a perfect score while nine men’s teams also achieved a 1,000 APR score.

The APR is a real-time measure of a team’s academic performance and is calculated by reviewing variables such as eligibility, retention and graduation rates of student-athletes competing on every Division I sports team.

Following are the University of Michigan APR multiyear and 2023-24 scores by sport:

FARGO, N.D. – The North Dakota State volleyball team and head coach Jennifer Lopez have announced the upcoming 2025 schedule.

The schedule features 27 total matches, including 13 at Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse. The Bison will play five of their first eight matches at home after opening the season hosting Bowling Green on Aug. 29, Temple on Aug. 30 and Saint Mary’s on Aug. 31 in the NDSU/UND Tournament.

NDSU will travel to Missoula, Mont., for three matches on Sept. 5-6 with opponents to be announced at a later date. The Bison then return home hosting Idaho on Sept. 12 and Kent State on Sept 13 in the NDSU/UND Tournament. NDSU will close out non-conference play with three matches in Fayetteville, Ark. The Bison will face Arkansas State on Sept. 18 before taking on Arkansas on Sept. 19 for the first time since 2018. NDSU finishes out the trip against Southern Illinois on Sept. 20.

The Bison will then open up the 16-match Summit League schedule hosting North Dakota on Sept. 27. NDSU wraps up league play at South Dakota on Nov. 18. The Summit League Championship is set for Nov. 23-25 in Brookings, S.D.

NDSU season tickets are now on sale and can be purchased at GoBison.com/VB-Tix. Reserved season tickets are $100 and general admission are $75 for all 13 home dates.

The full schedule can be viewed here.

 

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (May 6, 2025) — The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletics department posted another strong Academic Progress Rate (APR) score report, according to the annual information released by the NCAA offices this week.

According to the most recent NCAA report on the 2023-24 cycle, eight different Mocs programs earned perfect 1000 APR scores which matches the most in single cycle for the department since the 2020-21 report. The eight perfect APR scores include two men’s programs (basketball and tennis) and six women’s programs (basketball, cross country, golf, softball, track & field, and volleyball).

Each academic year, every Division I sports team’s APR is calculated using a simple and consistent formula. Scholarship student-athletes can earn 1 point for staying on course for a degree in their chosen major and 1 point for being retained (or graduating) at the end of each academic term. For schools that do not offer athletics scholarships, recruited student-athletes are tracked. 

Chattanooga saw four programs improve its four-year average scores including men’s tennis, women’s cross country, women’s track & field and volleyball, who increased its four-year score a department-best 10 points (994) this cycle. Six Mocs programs currently sit above national averages compared to its peers including football (970/958), men’s basketball (976/968), men’s tennis (1000/987), men’s cross country (985/984), softball (991/988) and volleyball (994/990).

A full list of APRs for each team, including the Top 10, can be accessed by using the APR searchable database. The most recent APRs are multiyear rates based on scores from the 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years. UTC’s full APR scoring report can be found below.

Inside the 2025 NCAA APR Release

Division I student-athletes continue to achieve academic success: The national four-year Academic Progress Rate for Division I teams remained steady at 984 for a fourth consecutive year. National sport averages either increased or held steady, as well. Men’s basketball remained at 968, with baseball (979), football (964) and women’s basketball (982) all increasing by 1 point from last year’s reported APR scores. 

Additionally, many former student-athletes are returning to the classroom to complete their degrees after exhausting their athletics eligibility. In the past 21 years of the Academic Performance Program, nearly 22,000 student-athletes have gone back to school to earn their degrees and APR points for their former team. For football (6,428), baseball (2,416), and men’s (1,657) and women’s basketball (761), more than 11,000 former student-athletes have returned to college and earned degrees. These student-athletes are typically not counted in the federal graduation rate or Graduation Success Rate calculations. 

This is the fourth consecutive year of publicly reported APRs after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the Division I board approved the release of APR scores but voted to continue the suspension of program penalties. Normal Academic Performance Program operations with program penalties and loss of access to postseason competition were originally scheduled to resume in spring 2024, but the Division I Committee on Academics decided not to enforce the loss of access to postseason competition for teams that scored lower than 930 last year, instead offering a conditional waiver due to lingering impacts of the pandemic.

UTC’s APR Scores 

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