The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) announced the final totals for the 2003-04 United States Sports Academy Directors’ Cup and Gustavus finished 10th out of 430 competing Division III institutions. The Directors’ Cup, the only all-sports competition in intercollegiate athletics, is awarded by NACDA to four-year institutions with the best overall athletic programs. In Division III, standings are based on national tournament finishes in 18 sports with points awarded based on the number of teams participating in each specific national championship. Williams College (Mass.) won the Division III title for the eighth time in the past nine years by topping the 1000-point mark for the second consecutive year. The Ephs recorded 1,081.75 points. Williams was followed by Emory (Ga.) with 811, Middlebury (Vt.) with 779.5, The College of New Jersey with 751, UW-Stevens Point with 730, Amherst (Mass.) with 686.75, UW-La Crosse with 640, Cortland State (N.Y.) with 627.5, Washington (Mo.) with 610.5, and Gustavus with 583.
Gustavus recorded national finishes in nine sports including men’s golf (1st, 100), men’s tennis (5th, 70), women’s tennis (5th, 70), men’s swimming and diving (9th, 69), women’s cross country (12th, 54), women’s swimming and diving (13th, 62.3), women’s track and field (16th, 57.5), men’s basketball (17th, 50), and men’s soccer (17th, 50). The Gusties also recorded national finishes in women’s hockey (5th), women’s gymnastics (5th), and women’s golf (6th), however those sports do not qualify for the Directors’ Cup standings as their tournaments do not have enough teams involved in the national meet to be recognized.
This is the fourth top ten finish for Gustavus in the nine-year history of the Directors’ Cup. The Gusties finished sixth last year, and tenth in 1995-96, 2001-02 and this year. Gustavus was the only member of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) to finish in the top 35. Finishes by the other MIAC members included St. Thomas in 40th (296), St. John’s in 46th (266), Augsburg in 105th (146), St. Olaf in 116th (130), Carleton in 140th (104), Concordia-Moorhead in 173rd (75), St. Catherine’s and St. Mary’s tied for 200th (53), Macalester in 232nd (44.5), and Bethel and Carleton tied for 248th (25).