Irish Tie for 25th in Sears Cup

Award determines overall success of school’s sports program.

June 28, 1999

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame finished tied for 25th place (with Wisconsin) in the final standings in the 1998-99 Sears Directors’ Cup all-sports competition.

Fourteen different Notre Dame athletic teams contributed points baseball, women’s basketball, men’s and women’s fencing (they compete for a combined championship), football, men’s lacrosse, women’s soccer, softball, women’s swimming, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s track and field, women’s track and field, and volleyball.

Irish teams added 90 points during the spring season, enabling Notre Dame to finish with 300 total points. Spring success came from baseball (10 points from Notre Dame’s NCAA regional appearance), men’s lacrosse (10 points from an NCAA quarterfinal appearance), softball (20 points from an NCAA regional appearance), women’s tennis (20 points from an NCAA second-round appearance), men’s tennis (10 points from an NCAA first-round appearance) and women’s track and field (20 points from a 17th-place finish outdoors).

During the winter season the Irish produced a fourth consecutive NCAA runnerup finish in men’s and women’s fencing (80 points), a 28th-place finish in women’s swimming (20 points), a 33rd-place finish in men’s indoor track and field (20 points) and a 17th-place finish in women’s basketball (20 points based on advancing to a second-round game) giving Notre Dame 210 points through the fall and winter. A 47th-place finish in women’s indoor track and field (10 points) was superseded by the women’s outdoor finish.

During the fall season the Irish women’s soccer team reached an NCAA regional title game (40 points), the volleyball team reached the NCAA second round (20 points) and the football team finished 22nd in the final USA Today/ESPN poll (10 points).

Stanford (970 points) won the 98-’99 competition, followed by Georgia (720), Penn State (600), Florida (580) and UCLA (570).

In the five 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 and 31st (tied) in 1997-98.