Dec. 19, 2008

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame jumped to seventh place in the second set of fall sports standings released in the 2008-09 Learfield Sports Division I Directors’ Cup all-sports competition sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

Fall NCAA competition so far has earned the Irish 192 points — 90 points from their national runner-up finish in women’s soccer, 50 from a second-round appearance in NCAA men’s soccer — plus 52 more based on their 19th-place finish in men’s cross country (36 points) and their 29th-place finish in women’s cross country (16 points). Yet to come are fall points for Notre Dame’s postseason football appearance Dec. 24 in the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl.

The third set of fall standings will be released Dec. 23 and the final fall standings will be available Jan. 13.

Stanford (304 points) leads the competition, thanks to an NCAA runner-up finish in men’s water polo, a third-place finish in men’s cross country and a national semifinal slot in women’s soccer. The Cardinal is followed by Virginia (244), Wake Forest (223),and Michigan State (215.5)

The current standings include results from NCAA fall competition in field hockey, men’s water polo, men’s and women’s soccer, and men’s and women’s cross country.

In previous years in which the 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, 11th in 2000-01, 13th in 2001-02, tied for 13th in 2002-03, 19th in 2003-04, 16th in 2004-05, a best-ever sixth in 2005-06, 22nd in 2006-07 and 21st in 2007-08.

Here are the current standings:
1.Stanford 304, 2.Virginia 244, 3.Wake Forest 223, 4.Michigan State 215.5, 5.North Carolina 215, 6.Maryland 200, 7.Notre Dame 192, 8.Oregon 190, 9.Washington 188, 10.Florida State 179, 11.Minnesota 164.5, 12.USC 164, 13.Princeton 160, 14.Duke 158, 15.Portland and William & Mary 142.

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