The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and Learfield Sports have announced the final totals for the 2011-12 Division III Directors’ Cup. Gustavus Adolphus College has placed 39th out of 444 competing NCAA Division III schools after earning 395.75 points over the year.
The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. 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.
Capturing this year’s 2011-12 Division III Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup title with 1040.75 points was Middlebury College (Vt.). The Panthers scored in the maximum 18 sports, including two second place finishes in women’s cross country and women’s field hockey, a third place finish in women’s lacrosse and a ninth place finish in women’s tennis.
Finishing second was Washington University (Mo.) with 980.25 points, and rounding out the top three in third was Williams College (Mass.) with 964.50 points.
The Gusties recorded national finishes in eight sports over the 2011-12 school year including women’s swimming and diving (11th, 66 pts.), men’s tennis (9th, 64 pts.), men’s golf (12th, 63.8 pts.), men’s hockey (5th, 60 pts.), women’s golf (11th, 57 pts.), women’s hockey (4th, 55 pts.), men’s basketball (33rd, 25 pts.), women’s track and field (68th, 5 pts.).
After not earning a single point following the fall season, Gustavus registered 206 points during the winter, sitting in 50th heading into the spring. The Gusties picked up 189.75 points from its spring sports, cracking the top-40 to take 39th overall. It is just the second time in the 16-year history of the NACDA Director’s Cup that Gustavus has not placed inside the top-25 in the nation.
Gustavus Adolphus is one of three schools from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to place inside the top-50 this year, joining St. Thomas who finished eighth with 720.25 points and St. Olaf who placed 41st with 382.5 points. The 2011-12 school year marked an outstanding campaign for the MIAC, as 10 of its 13 schools placed in the final standings. The MIAC was one of only five conferences in the nation to place 10 or more schools in the final standings, and the average finish of the MIAC members ranked third among that group.
Complete standings and the scoring structure can be found on NACDA’s website at www.directorscup.org.