Tuesday, December 24, 2019
CLEVELAND – Thanks to a tremendous fall that saw all five possible teams win GNAC championships and advance to postseason competition, Western Washington has vaulted into second place in the Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup Division II fall standings.
The Vikings finished the fall with 299 points in the rankings, which evaluates an athletic program’s success based on each institution’s finish in the NCAA Championships.
Western Washington made its biggest strides in the rankings with the women’s soccer program, which earned 90 points for its appearance in the Division II national championship match. Both the men’s soccer and volleyball programs earned 50 points for West Regional runs. The Vikings’ women’s cross country team received 57 points for a 17th-place national meet finish while the men scored 52 points with its 22nd-place finish.
The Vikings trail only Colorado Mines in the fall standings. The Orediggers earned 416 points thanks to a national championship in men’s cross country and top-10 finishes in women’s cross country, football, men’s soccer and volleyball. Rounding out the top-five in the standings is Wingate (283), Grand Valley State (270) and West Chester (240).
Alaska Anchorage sits in 38th place in the Fall Directors’ Cup standings with 120.5 points. The Seawolves earned points with an eighth-place national meet finish by the women’s cross country team and a West Regional run by the volleyball program. Other GNAC teams in the fall standings include Seattle Pacific (80th, 64.5), Northwest Nazarene (95th, 58.5) and Central Washington (128th, 25).
The Learfield IMG College 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 NCAA and NAIA Championships. Separate standings are published for each of the NCAA’s three divisions as well as the NAIA.
Fall sports figured into the Directors’ Cup standings include men’s and women’s cross country, women’s field hockey, football, men’s and women’s soccer and women’s volleyball.