BYU women’s cross country earns NCAA recognition for academic excellence

PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s cross country received public recognition from the NCAA for its academic excellence in scoring in the top 10 percent in the most recent Academic Progress Rates.

The APR is an annual scorecard of academic achievement calculated for all Division I sports teams. The most recent APRs are multiyear rates based on scores from the 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years. This is the first APR public recognition for the Cougar women’s cross country program.

Under the direction of Diljeet Taylor, BYU women’s cross country has excelled each of the past two seasons. In 2016, the Cougars finished 10th at the NCAA National Championships, the program’s best finish since 2005. BYU followed that with an 11th-place performance in 2017, the first back-to-back top-15 finishes since 2004 and 2005.

“I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished as a program,” Taylor said. “Everyone has worked hard to meet our team and individual goals. This team embodies every aspect of being a student-athlete, excelling both in and out of the classroom. These student-athletes are great representatives of BYU.”

In addition to the team success, women’s cross country has claimed five first-team All-WCC honors, six spots on the WCC All-Academic Team, three USTFCCCA All-Academic accolades and Erica Birk-Jarvis earned USTFCCCA All-America honors in 2016.

For more information on the schools that received public recognition throughout the NCAA, visit NCAA.org.