Concordia 9th in Directors' Cup Standings
CLEVELAND, Ohio - With seven teams taking home a Cascade Collegiate Conference title and 10 programs competing at the national stage at the NAIA championships, the Concordia athletic department garnered its highest end of the year ranking ever by finishing ninth overall in the NAIA Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Standings. Concordia’s previous best finish in the standings was 18th place in 2006-07.
Highlighted by a national runner-up performance from the women’s soccer team and boosted by top-five finishes by the men’s and women’s track and field teams at the NAIA Outdoor Championships, the Cavaliers tallied 619.75 points to finish inside the top 10 among NAIA programs. The Cavaliers held the highest ranking among CCC schools for the fourth straight year.
Five Cavalier teams finished the year with their best all-time finish, while Grant Landy’s women’s soccer team tied for the program’s best result by reaching the NAIA title game. Also recording their best all-time finishes were women’s golf, women’s basketball and men’s soccer with the later two teams making it to the ‘Sweet 16’ of the NAIA National Championships.
Azusa Pacific (Calif.) University claimed its fifth consecutive Sports Directors’ Cup. Rounding out the top five is Concordia (Calif.), Lindenwood (Mo.), Fresno Pacific (Calif.) and California Baptist.
In the university’s fifth consecutive win, the Cougars matched the longest run of the Directors’ Cup titles in NAIA history. In doing so, Azusa Pacific claimed three NAIA national championship titles during the 2008-09 season (women’s cross country, men’s indoor track & field and men’s outdoor track & field) and registered points towards its cup-winning tally in 14 different sports.
Also representing the Cascade Collegiate Conference in the final standings were: 44. College of Idaho (322.50); 50. Southern Oregon (245.50); 64. Eastern Oregon (184.00); 139. Oregon Tech (69.50); 149. Evergreen State (53.00); 166. Warner Pacific (25.00).
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 2008-09 award was presented at the 44th Annual NACDA Convention in Orlando, Florida.