CLEVELAND – The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) on Thursday morning released its final fall Division II Learfield Directors' Cup standings, with Anderson checking in at No. 15 nationally and atop the South Atlantic Conference rankings.
On the strength of stellar showings in men's soccer, cross country and volleyball during the fall campaign, the Trojans are also the highest-ranked program among schools in the Southeast Region (South Atlantic Conference, Peach Belt Conference and Conference Carolinas).
The Trojan men's soccer team nearly advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament in mid-November, while the volleyball squad made its second straight appearance in the semifinals of the NCAA Southeast Region Tournament. The Trojan women's cross country team closed out its season by finishing third at the NCAA Southeast Regionals in mid-November and posted a 33rd-place finish at the NCAA National Championships in its second consecutive appearance in early December.
The Trojans slipped one spot from November's preliminary fall Learfield Directors' Cup standings, with Colorado School of Mines continuing to lead NCAA Division II with DII with 340.00 total points. Grand Valley State is in second place with 315.00 points, Western Washington is in third place with 256.00 points, West Chester (PA) is in fourth with 220.00 points and rounding out the top five is Shippensburg (PA) with 218.00 points.
The Learfield Directors' Cup, which was developed and launched in 1993 as a joint effort between NACDA and USA Today, is awarded annually to the nation's best overall collegiate athletics program. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in NCAA Championships.
The winter standings are scheduled to be released Thursday, March 28, upon the completion of the winter season.
Complete standings and the scoring structure can be found on NACDA's website at www.directorscup.org.
LEARFIELD DIRECTOR'S CUP STANDINGS - OVERALL
LEARFIELD DIRECTOR'S CUP STANDINGS – BY CONFERENCE
LEARFIELD DIRECTOR'S CUP STANDINGS – SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE
Rank School Points
16 Anderson 169.0
19 Queens 161.5
31 Wingate 126.0
59 Lincoln Memorial 89.0
86 Lenoir-Rhyne 70.0
T-107 Carson-Newman 50.0
T-107 Tusculum 50.0
132 Catawba 25.0