NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State student-athletes posted the best overall score in the Southland Conference for the 2012-13 Academic Progress Rate compiled by the NCAA, with a 966 composite score and nine of NSU's 14 sports above the conference average, reported athletics director Greg Burke.
 

The latest NCAA APR report extends a spotless streak for Northwestern State, which has never faced penalties related to subpar APR performance in any sport since the NCAA began the program early this century.
 

NSU men's basketball, women's tennis and women's cross country had the best APR scores in the Southland while baseball, softball and women's soccer were second among the 12 institutions included in the 2012-13 report.
 

Last week, the Demon basketball program received public recognition for being one of the nation's top 40 teams in that sport with a near-perfect 996 multi-year APR from 2009-13. This week's NCAA APR release tracks performances by all Division I teams in the 2012-13 academic year in advancing their student-athletes toward graduation.
 

Meanwhile, six Northwestern State sports teams have won Southland championships and five have reached NCAA Tournament play since the start of 2013, while six track and field athletes have earned All-America honors with top 16 finishes at NCAA Championship meets indoors and outdoors. The Demon baseball team can add to that total with a chance to win the regular-season conference crown this week and the conference tournament and an automatic NCAA berth next week.
 

"Another positive NCAA APR report for the NSU Athletic Department is accentuated by the fact that the APR for so many NSU teams ranks at or near the top in comparison to other Southland Conference and Louisiana programs. We've had a very good year from a competitive perspective but that would be insignificant if the academic success level was not also at a high level," said Burke, nearing the end of his 18^th year as AD.
 

"I sound like a broken record year after year when commenting on good APR reports but so much credit goes to our coaches for setting the proper tone within their teams and to our academic support staff for their diligence on a daily basis," he said. "We are also blessed with an outstanding faculty which is supportive of our student-athletes yet also holds them accountable. Fundamentally, the work is done by motivated student-athletes who buy into a culture of academic achievement, and are very aware of our spotless and in many cases, outstanding record through the years with APR results."
 

NSU had seven sports in the top three among the 12 Southland institutions in the 2012-13 review, and eight sports in the top three among all 13 Louisiana public Division I athletic programs, said Burke.
 

Thirteen of the 14 sports at Northwestern were above the 930 APR benchmark that identifies at-risk teams. The men's indoor track program scored a 919 in 2012-13, but due to its APR history, is not in peril of any looming NCAA penalties for APR scores.
 

Along with the top overall ranking among the Southland schools, NSU stands fourth among the state's public institutions with the 966 composite APR for 2012-13, said Burke.