Athletics News

April 24, 2000

CLEVELAND - As the winter championship season closes, five-time Division I champion Stanford University continues to hold its familiar spot in the lead in the race for the Division I Sears Directors' Cup, presented by the nation's athletics directors.

Stanford holds a 194.5-point lead over Michigan, its nearest competitor. Stanford has scored in 10 sports, claiming the runner-up position in men's indoor track and field. Additionally, the Cardinal placed third in women's swimming, fourth in fencing and men's swimming, 11th in men's gymnastics and women's indoor track and field, 13th in women's gymnastics, 17th in women's and men's basketball and 55th in men's wrestling to record 917 points. The Sears Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. It is administered by NACDA and sponsored by Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Michigan holds onto second place with 775.5 points. Rounding out the top five are Nebraska, third with 754 points, Penn State, fourth with 753.5 points, and UCLA, fifth with 716 points.

This is the final winter standings and includes the sports of women's and men's basketball, fencing, women's and men's gymnastics, men's ice hockey, rifle, skiing, women's swimming, women's and men's indoor track and field and men's wrestling. Winning national championships were Connecticut in women's basketball, Michigan State in men's basketball, Penn State in fencing and men's gymnastics, UCLA in women's gymnastics and women's track and field, Denver in skiing, Georgia in women's swimming, Arkansas in men's track and field, and Iowa in wrestling. The highest finish in rifle and skiing, a National Collegiate championships, for a Division I institution was Xavier (Ohio), second in rifle, and Colorado, second in skiing. The ice hockey championship was won by North Dakota, a Division II institution. The highest finish for a Division I institution was second by Boston College.

Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 20 sports -- 10 for men and 10 for women. Each national champion receives 100 points. There are four Sears Directors' Cup Awards, one to honor the institution with the best all-around athletics program in each of the NCAA's Divisions I, II and III and the NAIA. It is the first-ever cross-sectional all-sports national recognition award for both men and women. The winner of the award receives a trophy designed by Waterford Crystal, which appears at major men and women's events throughout the year.

STANDINGS (As of April 20)