Cascade Conference Quartet in Top 30 of Standings
COMPLETE STANDINGS
LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Cascade Collegiate Conference placed four teams in the top 30 in the final NAIA Learfield Sports Directors' Cup 2011-12 Standings released Wednesday.
Concordia, which recently won its fourth straight Cascade Collegiate Conference All Sports Trophy, tallied 594.25 points across nine sports to place 10th overall in the final standings. The ranking fell one spot shy of the school's all-time best from the 2008-09 season and represents the fourth straight top-15 result for the Cavaliers.
Following Concordia, three other CCC schools placed inside the top 30. Earning 498 points, College of Idaho cracked the top 20 in 18th place. Southern Oregon edged Eastern Oregon, 379.5 to 377.25, as the two schools placed 27th and 28th overall, respectively. Headlined by a national championship in men's basketball, Oregon Tech placed 74th with 171.5 points to give the CCC its fifth school in the top 100.
Northwest Christian (116th, 118.5), Northwest (120th, 75), Corban (142nd, 75) and Warner Pacific (149th, 53) rounded out the CCC representation.
Recording 918 points, Azusa Pacific (Calif.) claimed the top spot in the standings for the eighth straight season. Azusa Pacific won the women's indoor track &field national championship, came in second in women's cross country and men's track & field, and third in women's soccer, men's tennis and women's outdoor track & field. Shorter (Ga.) finished in second place with 856.00 total points. The Hawks scored in 12 sports and claimed the softball and men's track & field national championships.
The following institutions won spring NAIA titles: baseball – Tennessee Wesleyan; women's golf – British Columbia (Can.); women's outdoor track & field – Oklahoma Baptist; women's tennis – Auburn Montgomery (Ala.); men's tennis – Oklahoma Christian; softball – Shorter (Ga.); men's outdoor track & field – Shorter (Ga.); men's golf – Oklahoma City.
The Golden State and Sooner conferences each have three institutions in the top 10: Golden State - Azusa (1st), Fresno Pacific (6th), Concordia (7th); Sooner - Oklahoma Baptist (4th), Oklahoma Christian (8th), Wayland Baptist (9th).
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.
Complete standings and the scoring structure can be found on NACDA's website at www.directorscup.org.