11 Gophers teams receive NCAA awards for Academic Progress Rates

Eleven University of Minnesota athletic programs were honored with Academic Progress Rates (APR) public recognition awards, the NCAA announced Wednesday. The awards are given each year to collegiate programs scoring in the top 10 percent of each sport based on their most recent multiyear APR.

Minnesota tied for first in the Big Ten with Michigan for the most such awards and finished behind only four private colleges nationally. This is the fourth straight year Minnesota ranked as the highest public institution.

Receiving awards were six Minnesota men's teams: baseball, football, cross-country, golf, hockey and tennis. They were joined by five women's teams: golf, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis and track and field.

The most recent APR scores are based on a multiyear rate that averages scores from the 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 academic years.

The Gophers baseball team will play Rutgers on May 16 in a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Siebert Field.

Originally, the two Big Ten teams were supposed to play a three-game series April 7-9, but the Scarlet Knights couldn't get a flight to Minnesota because of inclement weather on the East Coast.

• The Timberwolves finalized the purchase of the Iowa Energy from the NBA Development League on Wednesday.

• Isabella Lambert was named to the Junior Leadership Team by the U.S. Tennis Association. The honor recognizes top junior tennis players exhibiting leadership, sportsmanship and character. She won the Class 2A singles title in 2016 playing for Minnetonka.

• Three NSIC women's golf teams — Augustana, Minnesota State Mankato and Winona State — will compete in the three-day NCAA Division II Super Regional starting Monday in Sioux Falls, S.D., as well as individuals Savannah Stone of Concordia (St. Paul), Dana Wagner of Southwest Minnesota State and Megan Joerger of Upper Iowa.

• The St. Catherine and Carleton women's golf teams of the MIAC will compete in the four-day NCAA Division III Championships starting Tuesday in Houston. St. Catherine got an automatic bid as the conference tournament champion, Carleton received an at-large bid.

• St. John's will dedicate the Alper Golf Learning Center at 11:30 a.m. Friday. The facility, which consists of two simulator bays, a chipping green and putting green, is named after Bob Alpers, the school's athletic director and a Golf Coaches' Association of America Hall of Fame coach.