Concordia Jumps to No. 6 in Directors' Cup
CLEVELAND -- Boosted by a pair of top-five performances at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Concordia University moved up two positions to No. 6 in the latest NAIA Leerfield Sports Directors’ Cup Standings released on May 28.
The final standings will be released on June 19. The Cavaliers received 629.75 points towards the standings. CU gained 82.5 points after a third-place result by the men’s track and field team and 74.25 points after a fifth-place finish by the women’s track team to move up two places from the previous release.
Concordia recorded its best all-time finish in the NAIA standings following the 2006-07 season when it placed 18th overall. CU was 26th in the 2007-08 edition.
Other Cascade Collegiate Conference representative included: College of Idaho in 41st (322.50); Southern Oregon in 49th (245.50); Eastern Oregon in 60th (184.0); Oregon Tech in 135th (69.5); Evergreen State in 142nd (53.0) and Warner Pacific in 162nd (25.0).
Following four top-10 finishes in spring NAIA championships, Azusa Pacific (Calif.) remains atop the standings with 964 total points. Azusa Pacific captured the men’s outdoor track and field championship, placed fourth in women’s outdoor track and field, fifth in men’s tennis and ninth in women’s tennis scoring 303 points this spring. Trading places in the standings are Concordia (Calif.) and Lindenwood (Mo.), as the Eagles of Concordia are now in second with 822 total points, followed by the Lions of Lindenwood with 797.50 points.
Institutions capturing NAIA championships to date include: Oklahoma City (women’s golf); Oklahoma Christian (men’s golf); California Baptist (women’s softball); Auburn Montgomery (women’s tennis); Fresno Pacific (men’s tennis); Wayland Baptist (women’s outdoor track and field); Azusa Pacific (men’s outdoor track and field).
The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 12 sports – six women’s and six men’s. The final spring NAIA standings will be released June 19, 2009 at the 44th Annual NACDA Convention.
For more information, go to http://www.nacda.com/directorscup/nacda-directorscup-current-scoring.html.