Cortland Standard .net

Capped off by national titles in baseball and women’s lacrosse at the end of May, the SUNY Cortland athletic program finished in 12th place in the 2014-15 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup competition.
The Red Dragons are among the approximately 450 eligible NCAA Division III programs competing nationally for the prestigious honor. The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, Learfield Sports and USA Today present the award annually to recognize overall excellence among collegiate athletic programs.
Cortland is one of only five schools nationwide — and the only New York institution — to place in the top 25 each of the 20 years the standings have been compiled on the Division III level. The other schools that hold that distinction are Williams College and Amherst College from Massachusetts, Vermont’s Middlebury College and Emory University in Georgia.
The Red Dragons finished with a score of 716 points. Williams won its 18th Directors’ Cup with 1,053 points, followed by Johns Hopkins (Md.) with 1,016.75, MIT 961, Washington (Mo.) 944 and Amherst 918.50 in the top five.
Cortland had 12 teams finish in the top 40 in 2014-15 NCAA postseason competitions, including four top-10 finishes. Beside the two national champions, the men’s lacrosse tied for fifth after advancing to the national quarterfinals and the men’s soccer team tied for ninth after advancing to the “Sweet 16” round.
Wrestling placed 13th, women’s indoor track and field tied for 18th, men’s cross country finished 19th and men’s indoor track and field tied for 21st. In addition, men’s outdoor track and field tied for 24th, women’s cross country placed 26th, softball tied for 33rd and women’s outdoor track and field finished 39th.
The women’s gymnastics team finished fifth nationally at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association Division III Championships. That result, however, is not counted in the Directors’ Cup standings since it’s not an NCAA-sponsored championship.
The standings are compiled based on schools’ national finishes in different sports. Teams earn points by qualifying for the NCAA postseason and additional points for advancing in the playoffs. The national champion in each sport earns 100 points.
There are four Directors’ Cup Awards, one to honor overall champions 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. NACDA, which is now in its 50th year, is the professional and educational association for more than 6,100 college athletics directors, associates, assistants and conference commissioners at more than 1,600 institutions throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada.

2014-15 LEARFIELD SPORTS
DIRECTORS’ CUP
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Final Division III Standings
1. Williams (Mass.) 1,053; 2. Johns Hopkins (Md.) 1,016.75; 3. MIT 961, 4. Washington (Mo.) 944; 5. Amherst (Mass.) 918.5; 6. Wisconsin-Whitewater 877.75; 7. Middlebury (Vt.) 821.5; 8. Emory (Ga.) 807.5; 9. Tufts (Mass.) 766.25; 10. Wisconsin-La Crosse 731
11. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) 727.5; 12. CORTLAND 716; 13. Salisbury (Md.) 668; 14. St. Thomas (Minn.) 628.5; 15. Wartburg (Iowa) 603.25; 16. Texas-Tyler 597.75; 17. Mount Union (Ohio) 589.25; 18. Wisconsin-Eau Claire 572; 19. Bowdoin (Maine) 570; 20. Chicago (Ill.) 564
21. Stevens Institute (N.J.) 531.5; 22. Hope (Mich.) 523; 23. The College of New Jersey 522.5; 24. North Central (Ill.) 517; 25. Trinity (Texas), 513
Other New York schools in Top 100: 30. Ithaca 453.5, 32. Geneseo 440.5, 40. Oneonta 379, 42. New York University 373.5, 46. St. Lawrence 363.25, 55. Skidmore 316, 70. RIT 261.5, 74. St. John Fisher 246, 93. Plattsburgh 198.5, 95. Hamilton 196, 97. Nazareth 194

SUNY CORTLAND
DIRECTORS’ CUP FINISHES
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2014-15: 12th. 2013-14: 23rd. 2012-13: 11th. 2011-12: 10th. 2010-11: 16th.
2009-10: 17th. 2008-09: 5th. 2007-08: 9th. 2006-07: 3rd. 2005-06: 5th.
2004-05: 13th. 2003-04: 8th. 2002-03: 15th. 2001-02: 12th. 2000-01: 13th
1999-00: 17th. 1998-99: 8th. 1997-98: 2nd (tied). 1996-97: 8th. 1995-96: 19th