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Cardinal wins record seventh straight crown by over 100 points over second-place UCLA.
June 11, 2001
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Stanford University has clinched its seventh consecutive Division I Sears Directors' Cup, which is awarded annually to the best overall collegiate athletic program in the country. The 2000-01 Sears Directors' Cup winners were announced Monday at the NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Although the Division I race will not officially end until the conclusion of the College World Series on June 16, Stanford has mathematically clinched the title and its seventh straight Waterford Crystal Sears Directors' Cup. The Cardinal currently has 1259.5 points, which leads runner-up UCLA by 121.5 points. Stanford will add to that total based on its finish at the College World Series, which will be no lower than third. Following Stanford and UCLA are Michigan, Arizona and Ohio State.
"One of our primary goals each and every year is to win the Sears Directors' Cup," Stanford Athletic Director Ted Leland said. "I am extremely proud that we have reached this goal for seven straight years. It is outstanding to see Stanford's student-athletes, coaches and support staff rewarded for their dedication to all-around excellence in every sport."
Stanford recorded points in the maximum of 10 women's and 10 men's sports. The Cardinal women's tennis team led the way by scoring 100 points for capturing the NCAA Championship. Fourteen of the other 19 teams that scored Directors' Cup points finished in the top 10 nationally, including 12in the top five. Overall (including sports that were not included in the Sears Directors' Cup standings), Stanford had 26 teams place in the top 20 nationally, including 16 in the top 10 and 12 in the top five.
The other scoring programs that finished in the top 10 nationally were women's swimming and diving (2nd), men's swimming and diving (2nd), women's water polo (2nd), baseball (TBA, no lower than third), women's cross country (3rd), softball (3rd), men's cross country (4th), co-ed fencing (4th), men's outdoor track and field (4th), men's tennis (5th), men's basketball (5th), men's soccer (5th), women's gymnastics (7th) and women's golf (9th).
The Sears' Directors Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors (NACDA) and USA Today. The Sears Directors' Cup is part of the Sears Collegiate Champions program which annually awards more than 2,200 conference and sport champion trophies and a quarter-of-a-million dollars in athletic scholarships.