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She must have the "magic touch," jokes Nona Richardson.

Utah's new senior associate athletics director began work this January at a school with seven teams ranked in the most recent polls, and the NCAA's latest Academic Performance Report now suggests they're not only walking the walk, but they're on track to, well, walk.

Thirteen U. teams improved their four-year APR scores in 2013-14, with the department averaging its highest-ever score, at 983.

"Any time that your scores are going up as a whole, you've got to be excited about what you're providing to your student-athletes," said Richardson, who oversees support services.

APR measures eligibility and retention of NCAA athletes. A team with a four-year average of 930 or lower are subject to a postseason ban, among other potential sanctions, and many head coaches receive financial incentives to remain above the dreaded mark.

It's an imperfect system. Teams can be penalized by coaching changes, or by having players declare for the NFL and NBA drafts. It's also a poor basis for comparison: Richardson's former school, UC Davis, doesn't have the support structure of a Power 5 school like Utah. And remaining eligible is tougher at some schools than others.

Richardson believes the graduate success rate, or GSR, is probably the more telling statistic. Utah most recently ranked sixth in the Pac-12 in GSR, at 81 percent (the 2015 figures will be released in late fall).

But APR results can tell you something about a school's year-to-year progress. Utah's men's basketball team was in danger of receiving sanctions a decade ago, after Rick Majerus' tenure as head coach. In 2003-04, the Runnin' Utes scored an abysmal 833. Now, with Larry Krystkowiak at the helm, the program earned a perfect 1,000 for the second year in a row — as did Utah's women's volleyball, women's tennis and men's golf teams.

The score nets Krystkowiak a bonus of $15,000. Over four years, men's hoops stands at 980 — behind the perfect 1,000 of Arizona, Stanford and Arizona State, but well ahead of Washington State, at 938.

Women's gymnastics, women's cross country and women's indoor and outdoor track teams also garnered perfect single-year scores.

The U. will cut Kyle Whittingham a $50,000 check for a single-year score of 981. The football team's multi-year score of 973 is fourth in the Pac-12 — Stanford is first, at 987, and Cal is last, at 941 — and north of the Football Bowl Subdivision average of 961.

Three Utah teams did not see a change in their multi-year score, while two saw their scores drop: men's and women's swimming and diving teams. Both lost perfect 1,000 scores from 2009-10 in their four-year average. As far as single-year scores, men's swimming and diving actually jumped from 919 to 974, while the women's team dipped from 975 to 966.

Of course, "remained eligible" doesn't make much of a résumé bullet. There's more to it than that. U. student-athletes averaged a 3.08 GPA during spring semester, with more than a quarter earning the 3.5 necessary to make the dean's list. Sixty percent had at least a 3.0, led by the gymnastics team, which averaged a 3.69.

Richardson said that when she arrived at the U. in January, she did a full review of academic services, bringing in a private consultant, and found that everything that was needed was already in place.

So while she had the good fortune of arriving at the U. when many of its programs were on the rise on the field and in the classroom, Richardson carries a heavy burden, too. There's less and less room to improve.

mpiper@sltrib.com Twitter: @matthew_piper —

Utah's 2013-14 four-year APR scores

(Multiyear, single year and percentile rank within sport)

Baseball • 988 (same as in 2012-13), 981, 80th-90th

Men's basketball • 980 (+1), 1000, 70th-80th

Football • 973 (+3), 981, 70th-80th

Men's golf • 993 (+6), 1000, 70th-80th

Men's skiing • 983 (+5), 977, 40th-50th

Men's swimming and diving • 946 (-5), 974, 1st-10th

Women's basketball • 972 (same), 983, 30th-40th

Women's cross country • 989 (+5), 1000, 40th-50th

Women's gymnastics • 1000 (+4), 1000, 90th-100th

Women's skiing • 982 (same), 977, 10th-20th

Women's soccer • 977 (+5), 990, 20th-30th

Softball • 973 (+1), 988, 20th-30th

Women's swimming and diving • 978 (-9), 966, 10th-20th

Women's tennis • 992 (+6), 1000, 60th-70th

Women's track, indoor • 989 (+9), 1000, 60th-70th

Women's track, outdoor • 989 (+8), 1000, 60th-70th

Women's volleyball • 991 (+5), 1000, 50th-60th