With seven teams honored, Fordham ranks third-highest among Atlantic 10 schools. Dayton and George Washington universities tied at nine teams. Richmond had eight teams.

In addition, Fordham has posted multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. It was recognized as one of 56 NCAA Division I programs, and one of three current Atlantic 10 schools, with one or more teams that have been recognized in each of the past nine years.

APRs for all Division I teams were released on May 14. Teams must meet a certain academic threshold to qualify for the postseason, and they also can face penalties for continued low academic performance.

Those Ram teams honored are baseball, golf, men’s swimming and diving, men’s indoor track and field, men’s outdoor track and field, women’s indoor track and field, and women’s tennis. Women’s indoor track and field and women’s tennis have both been honored in each of the nine years the NCAA has released the scores. Baseball is recognized for the seventh time; Men’s indoor and outdoor track and field programs are recognized for the fifth time, as is the men’s swimming & diving program.

“We are honored to be one of 56 NCAA Division I programs that have had a team honored in each of the nine years the NCAA has been compiling APR scores,” said Director of Athletics David Roach. “These student-athletes have demonstrated that they are as serious about their academic accomplishments as they are about their athletic success, and we are extremely proud of them as well as of their coaches and the academic support staff.”

The 1,049 teams publicly recognized for high achievement represent 631 women’s teams and 418 men’s or mixed squads. In 2013, 976 teams were recognized.

The public recognition awards are part of the broad Division I academic reform effort. The APR provides a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each individual student-athlete. The APR includes eligibility, retention, and graduation in the calculation.

The scores required to be in the top 10 ranged from 980 to a perfect 1,000, depending on the sport, with the majority of top 10 teams earning a perfect APR.

“Each year, more and more teams are achieving perfect APR scores,” said NCAA president Mark Emmert, adding that member schools are “providing tremendous opportunities for student-athletes” to succeed both on and off the field.

The NCAA honors are the latest academic awards earned by Fordham student-athletes. This year two student-athletes, Abigail Corning (women’s basketball) and Bret Biestek (football), were named Capital One Academic All-District, with Biestek going on to earn First Team Capital One Academic All-America® honors.

Born in New York City to Annabelle and August Persichetty, he grew up in Jersey City, N.J. and was a track star there at William L. Dickinson High School.

Persichetty enrolled at Fordham, and was a member of the team that set a world record in the two-mile relay (7 minutes 27.3 seconds) at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1954. The previous record was 7 minutes 29.2 seconds. Fordham runners Tom Courtney, Terry Foley and Frank Tarsney rounded out the relay.

In 1957, he began teaching and coaching track and cross-country at Seton Hall Preparatory School in West Orange, N.J. He also coached at Oak Knoll and Oratory Prep in Summit, N.J., and served in the Army as a Ranger.

His teams won several conference and New Jersey parochial championships during his tenure, set national records in the indoor two-mile relay as well as several regional and state races.

Persichetty was an avid traveler who toured throughout the United States and much of Europe. “He had a great sense of history and art,” said Msgr. Michael E. Kelly, headmaster at Seton Hall Prep. “He did that to enhance his classes in world history and art history. He was not an artist himself, but was well-schooled in that discipline.”

He was inducted into the Hudson County (N.J.) Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1985, the Fordham Athletic Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Seton Hall Prep Hall of Fame in 1997, where the track is named in his honor.

“Whenever possible, he would travel to watch former students who were performing at the collegiate level,” Msgr. Kelly said.

Persichetty retired from teaching and coaching after 40 years and moved from Summit to Nellysford, Va., where he enjoyed spending time with his children and grandchildren.

Persichetty is survived by his wife of 44 years, Eileen; children Michael, Cathleen Dee and Elizabeth Molins; his sister, Marlo Morra, and 10 grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Seton Hall Prep in West Orange in memory of Coach Persichetty.