Release courtesy of Julie Work, NACDA Director of Communications
CLEVELAND – For the first time since the 2003-04 season, the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup has a new institution sitting atop the final standings, Grand Canyon (Ariz.) unseated the eight time defending champion, Grand Valley State (Mich.), 925.50-894.00. This is the Lopes first Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup title.
Click here for a printable (pdf) release with full standings
Click here for standings by conference (pdf)
Grand Canyon will be honored at the 2012 NACDA Convention during the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup luncheon sponsored by Ticketmaster, on Tuesday, June 26.
Grand Canyon scored in the maximum 14 sports including a national championship in men’s indoor track & field, third place in men’s wrestling and women’s golf, and fifth place finishes in women’s swimming, men’s swimming, women’s outdoor track & field and men’s tennis, sixth in women’s indoor track & field and tenth in men’s outdoor track & field. The Lopes also had two scores omitted due to the seven maximum allowed for women’s sports - women’s volleyball and women’s soccer.
Grand Valley State (Mich.) finished in second, after scoring in 13 sports. The Lakers won both the women’s outdoor track & field national championship and the women’s indoor track & field national championship, finished second in women’s soccer, third in women’s cross country and sixth in women’s swimming. Grand Valley State’s score in women’s softball was omitted as they reached the seven maximum sports allowed for women’s sports.
Ashland (Ohio) finished in third with 750.50 points. The Eagles scored in 13 sports with their highest finish coming in women’s basketball (2nd place).
Indianapolis (Ind.) rounds out the top five with 673.75 total points. The Greyhounds scored in 12 sports, their highest finish a seventh place showing in men’s baseball.
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference placed two institutions in the top five, Grand Valley State (2nd) and Ashland (3rd). The California Collegiate Athletic Conference placed two institutions in the top ten, UC San Diego (7th) and Chico State (8th).
The following institutions capturing spring national titles: men’s outdoor track & field – Adams State (Colo.); women’s outdoor track & field – Grand Valley State (Mich.); baseball – West Chester (Pa.); women’s rowing – Humboldt State (Calif.); men’s lacrosse – Dowling (N.Y.); women’s golf, men’s golf – Nova Southeastern (Fla.); women’s lacrosse – CW Post (N.Y.) softball – Valdosta State (Ga.); women’s tennis, men’s tennis – Armstrong Atlantic (Ga.).
The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 14 sports -- seven women’s and seven men’s.
Complete standings and the scoring structure can be found on NACDA’s website at www.directorscup.org. In addition, please visit www.thedirectorscup.com, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/lsdirectorscup or follow us on Twitter @lsdirectorscup.
About Learfield
Sports: The 2011-12 athletics season marks its fourth year
as title partner of the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup. A
preeminent leader in the collegiate sports marketplace for nearly
four decades, Learfield Sports manages the multimedia rights for
more than 50 collegiate properties, including flagship Mizzou,
which it has represented since 1975. An operating unit of Learfield
Communications, the company also operates regional and statewide
radio networks, provides exclusive sports programming to more than
1,000 radio stations nationwide and creates nearly 7,000 radio
game
broadcasts and coaches’ shows each year. These
ever-expanding, collegiate relationships also feature comprehensive
corporate sponsorship platforms, official university publications,
Internet, digital media, hospitality and game-day events. To learn
more about Learfield Sports’ expertise, its history and
complete collegiate portfolio, visit www.learfieldsports.com.
