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Stanford clinched the Sears Directors' Cup with a total of 1499 points, surpassing runner-up Texas by 388.5 points.
June 26, 2002
Dallas, TX - Stanford University has clinched its eighth consecutive NCAA Division I Sears Directors' Cup, which is presented annually by Sears, Roebuck and Co. and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) to the best overall collegiate athletic program in the country.
The 2001-02 Sears Directors' Cup winners were announced Tuesday at the NACDA Convention in Dallas, Texas, and the four winning institutions -- one in each of the NCAA Divisions (I, II, and III), and the NAIA -- were awarded with their Sears Directors' Cups and scholarships. Although the Division I race will not conclude until June 22, after the conclusion of the NCAA College World Series, Stanford has already clinched the Sears Directors' Cup.
The Cardinal clinched the Sears Directors' Cup with a total of 1499 points, surpassing runner-up Texas by 388.5 points. Stanford won its eighth straight Sears Directors' Cup on the strength of four national championships (women's volleyball, women's tennis and men's and women's water polo), a total of 11 teams finishing among the top five in national competition, and 22 teams placing in the top 10.
Stanford teams placing in the top 11 were women's tennis (1st), women's volleyball (1st), men's water polo (1st), women's water polo (1st), men's swimming and diving (2nd), men's cross country (2nd), baseball (4th), men's soccer (3rd), women's swimming and diving (3rd), women's indoor track and field (5th), women's cross country (5th), women's gymnastics (6th), men's gymnastics (6th), men's volleyball (6th), men's fencing (6th), women's outdoor track and field (7th), men's outdoor track and field (8th), women's basketball (9th), women's soccer (9th) and women's crew (10th). The Cardinal recorded points in the maximum of 10 women's and 10 men's sports.
Developed as a joint effort between USA TODAY and NACDA, the Sears Directors' Cup program is the only all-sports competition that recognizes the institution in each of the four categories with the best overall athletics program. 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 academic scholarships.
While Stanford took home the Waterford? Crystal Sears Directors' Cup for NCAA Division I competition, the 2001-02 winners in the other divisions include: Division II - University of California-Davis; Division III - Williams College (Mass.); NAIA-Oklahoma City University.
Through the Sears Directors' Cup program, Sears and NACDA annually award $100,000 in postgraduate academic scholarships. Five $5,000 scholarships in each division assist students who support their institution's athletics departments, including team managers, athletics trainers, band members, cheerleaders, assistant coaches, sports information assistants, facility staff and academic support personnel. For each category, four outstanding recipients are selected by a nationwide nomination process, administered by NACDA, while the fifth recipient is a student at the institution that wins the Sears Directors' Cup.
Sears and NACDA will award each of the second through fifth place institutions in all four divisions with Sears Directors' Cup plaques, commemorating their program's dedication to athletics greatness. This year's runner-up institutions in the NCAA Division I include: Texas, the University of Florida, the University of North Carolina and UCLA.
Of the 323 eligible colleges and universities in the NCAA Division I, a total of 261 (81 percent) scored points in the Sears Directors' Cup competition.
NACDA, now in its 37th year, serves as the professional and educational association for more than 6,100 collegiate athletics directors, associates, assistants and conference administrators at more than 1,600 institutions throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.
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