Friday, June 17, 2011

MORAVIAN FINISHES 57th IN 2010-11 LEARFIELD SPORTS DIRECTORS’ CUP

CLEVELAND, OH --- The Moravian College athletic teams’ successful spring on the national level helped the Greyhounds to a 57th place finish with 279.5 points in the 2010-11 NCAA Division III Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup final standings, the second highest finish for Moravian and a third straight year in the top 75.

Six of the eight Landmark Conference schools received points, however; Moravian was the only school in the conference to finish in the top 90.  The United States Merchant Marine Academy was 93rd with 197.75 points while Juniata College was 104th with 186 points and The Catholic University of America was tied for 144th with 128 points.

Moravian has been in the top 100 nine times in the 16-year history of the Directors’ Cup including a 48th place finish in 2009-10, the best in school history.  Moravian first cracked the top 100 in 1999-2000, and the school has been in the top 100 in nine of the last 12 years.

For a school to receive points, sports must compete in the NCAA National Championships (for individual sports) and the NCAA Tournament (for team sports).  Schools in NCAA Division III can earn points in nine men’s and nine women’s sports.  If a school earns points in more than nine sports, the top nine point totals are counted.  A total of 324 of the 432 NCAA Division III institutions earned points in this year’s standings.

Moravian earned 73.5 points from the men’s outdoor track & field team’s sixth place finish in the NCAA Division III National Championships, 64.5 points from the women’s indoor track & field team, 51 from the women’s outdoor track & field squad, 50 points from the softball team, 25 points each from the women’s tennis team and 15.5 points from the men’s indoor track & field squad.

Williams College (Mass.) defended its title as the best athletics program in NCAA Division III competition by winning its 15th Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, the prestigious award presented annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and Learfield Sports to the best overall collegiate athletics programs in the country.

The 2010-11 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup winners were announced at NACDA's 46th Annual Convention in Orlando, Florida, and the four winning institutions -- one in each of the NCAA Divisions (I, II, and III), and the NAIA -- were awarded with their Learfield Sports Directors' Cups.

Williams College won its 15th Learfield Directors' Cup in the last 16 years and recorded 1,147 points, 83.83 points ahead of runner-up Middlebury (Vt.) College with 1,063.17 points while Washington (MO) University was third at 964 points, Amherst (Mass.) College was fourth at 889.5 points and Calvin (Mich.) College was fifth in 762.25 points.