April 23, 2004
The University of Notre Dame stands 15th in the fourth and final set of winter sports standings released in the 2003-04 United States Sports Academy Division I Directors’ Cup all-sports competition sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (formerly known as Sears Directors’ Cup).
Winter competition meant 275 points for Notre Dame based on NCAA championship finishes in fencing (3rd place, 85 points), women’s track and field (21st, 52 points), women’s swimming and diving (25th, 49 points), women’s basketball (tie for 9th, 64 points, based on regional semifinal appearance) and hockey (tie for 9th, 25 points, based on regional semifinal appearance).
Fall NCAA competition earned the Irish 199 points based on their 10th-place finish in the NCAA women’s cross country championships (60 points), their second-round appearance in NCAA women’s soccer (50 points), their third-round NCAA appearance in men’s soccer (64 points, highest total ever in that sport for Notre Dame) and their NCAA first-round women’s volleyball appearance (25 points).
Michigan (1,018.3 points) leads the competition thanks to 13 top-10 finishes so far in fall and winter sports. Second is Stanford, followed by Penn State, Florida and Ohio State.
The current standings include results from NCAA fall competition in field hockey, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and I-A and I-AA football, plus winter results from men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s gymnastics, men’s ice hockey, skiing, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, fencing, men’s and women’s swimming and wrestling.
The first two spring sport standings updates will be released May 27 and June 14 – with the final standings available July 1.
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 and tied for 13th in 2002-03.
Here are the current standings:
1.Michigan 1,018.3, 2.Stanford 957.75, 3.Penn State 735.5, 4.Florida 668, 5.Ohio State 657, 6.UCLA 633.75, 7.Minnesota 595.5, 8.North Carolina 587.25, 9.Georgia 576.5, 10.LSU 557.25, 11.Wisconsin 548.75, 12.Texas 528.75, 13.Connecticut 512.5, 14.Oklahoma 480.75, 15.Notre Dame 474.