Notre Dame In 13th Place In Sears Directors’ Cup
Irish looking for more points from late spring sports.

May 30, 2002

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame remains in 13th place in the first set of spring sports standings released in the 2001-02 Sears Directors’ Cup all-sports competition.

Notre Dame has scored 110 spring points through its NCAA appearances in women’s lacrosse (40 points based on quarterfinal appearance), men’s tennis (50 points based on Final 16 appearance) and women’s tennis (20 points based on first-round play).

Still to come for the Irish are points from NCAA qualifications in baseball (Notre Dame begins regional play tomorrow), softball (the Irish were regional runnersup), rowing (the Irish first varsity eight boat rows tomorrow) and track and field (the NCAA championship meet is going on now in Baton Rouge).

The latest standings include NCAA spring sports results in men’s and women’s tennis, women’s golf, women’s lacrosse, women’s water polo and men’s volleyball. Notre Dame earned 300.5 winter points from a 21st-place finish in men’s indoor track (62.5 points), a 34th-place finish in women’s indoor track (49 points), NCAA second-round appearances in men’s and women’s basketball (30 points each), its 19th-place NCAA finish in women’s swimming (49) and its third-place finish in fencing (80).

Fall NCAA competition earned the Irish 171 points based on their sixth-place finish in men’s cross country (68), their 19th-place finish in women’s cross country (33 points), their advancement to the second round of the NCAAs in women’s soccer (30 points) and their first-round NCAA participation in both volleyball and men’s soccer (20 points each).

Notre Dame and Stanford were the only schools to score in each of five traditional fall Olympic sports – men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer and women’s volleyball.

Stanford (1,369.5 points) leads the competition thanks to its NCAA championships in men’s water polo, women’s water polo, women’s tennis, and women’s volleyball and its second-place finishes in men’s cross country and men’s swimming. Second is North Carolina (’01 NCAA men’s soccer champion and women’s soccer runnerup), followed by Florida, UCLA and Texas.

The current standings also include results from NCAA fall competition in women’s volleyball, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s water polo, Division I-A and I-AA football, and men’s and women’s cross country – as well as NCAA winter competition in men’s and women’s basketball, fencing, men’s and women’s hockey, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s wrestling, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, men’s and women’s gymnastics, rifle and skiing.

In previous years in which the Sears Directors’ Cup competition has been held, Notre Dame has finished 11th in 1993-94, 30th in 1994-95, 11th in 1995-96, 14th in 1996-97, tied for 31st in 1997-98, 25th in 1998-99, 21st in 1999-2000 – and 11th again in 2000-01.

Here are the current standings:

1. Stanford 1369.5, 2. North Carolina 889.5, 3. Florida 818.5, 4. UCLA 810, 5. Texas 751.5, 6. Michigan 736, 7. Minnesota 689.5, 8. Tennessee 641.5, 9. Georgia 637, 10. Arizona 621, 11. Oklahoma 602.5, 12. Penn State 583, 13. Notre Dame 581.5, 14. Arizona State 576.5, 15. BYU 560.