UW-Oshkosh Finishes 21st In Directors' Cup Standings

Escorted by a national title in women’s indoor track & field, UW-Oshkosh finished 21st in the 2013 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings. The competition, which began in 1996, is designed to recognize the best overall athletics program in the country.

Williams College (Mass.) scored 1,273.75 points to reclaim the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup title. The Ephs scored in 18 sports and captured the women’s rowing and men’s and women’s tennis national championships. Williams College has now captured 16 of the 18 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup titles.

Emory University (Ga.) finished second with 986.5 points, its highest finish since 2003-04, when the Eagles were also the runner-up. Emory University scored in 15 sports and captured the national championship in women’s swimming.

Defending champion Middlebury College (Vt.) placed third with 941.75 points, UW-Whitewater fourth with 895 and Washington University (Mo.) fifth with 859.5.

UW-Oshkosh totaled 550 points to rank in the top 25 for the 15th time. The Titans scored 100 points on their women’s indoor track & field title and 90 on each of their second-place national finishes in men’s indoor track & field and women’s outdoor track & field.

UW-Oshkosh also tallied 85 points on a third-place finish in men’s outdoor track & field, 83 on a third-place finish in football, 57 on a 17th-place finish in wrestling and 45 on a 29th-place finish in women’s cross country.

In addition to UW-Whitewater and UW-Oshkosh, the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference had UW-Eau Claire finish 14th with 672 points, UW-La Crosse 16th with 609, UW-Stevens Point 30th with 450.5, UW-Platteville 86th with 210, UW-Stout 144th with 140, UW-River Falls 195th with 91.5 and UW-Superior 280th with 36.5. A total of 330 schools earned points in this year’s competition.

The top-10 places also had Amherst College (Mass.) finish sixth with 802.8 points, Johns Hopkins University (Md.) seventh with 789.5, Tufts University (Mass.) eighth with 752, University of St. Thomas (Minn.) ninth with 742 and Massachusetts Institute of Technology 10th with 725.75.

The Learfield Sports Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each school's national postseason finish in up to nine sports for men and nine for women. Each national champion received 100 points.

UW-Oshkosh finished 17th in last year's chase for the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup with 583.5 points. The Titans obtained top-10 finishes in 1996 (third), 1997 (fifth), 2001 (seventh), 2002 (eighth), 2003 (eighth) and 1999 (10th). UW-Oshkosh's other placements were 11th in 1998, 12th in 2007 and 2011, 15th in 2004, 17th in 2009, 21st in 2008, 23rd in 2010, 29th in 2000, 33rd in 2006 and 38th in 2005.