Thursday, December 21, 2017
CLEVELAND – Led by solid performances by teams at Alaska Anchorage and Western Washington, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference finished the fall with three teams in the top-40 of the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings for NCAA Division II.
The Seawolves are in 30th place in the standings with a total of 131 points with the Vikings in 31st with a total of 128 points. Points in the Directors’ Cup standings are based upon a school’s finish in a number of NCAA championship sports.
Simon Fraser also cracked the top-40, in 35th place with a total of 123.5 points. Seven of the conference’s 11 full-member schools are ranked in the top 100, including Central Washington (64th, 78 points), Western Oregon (92nd, 53 points), Concordia (97th, 50 points) and Northwest Nazarene (97th, 50 points).
Alaska Anchorage earned most of its points in women’s cross country thanks to the school’s fifth-place finish at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. The remainder of the Seawolves’ points came from high regional finishes in men’s cross country (fifth) and volleyball (regional quarterfinals).
Western Washington’s points were split evenly between women’s soccer and volleyball with both teams competing in the regional championship match in their respective sports.
The majority of Simon Fraser’s points came from the women’s cross country program which finished 10th at the Division II Championships. The Clan also received points for regional appearances by its men’s cross country and men’s soccer programs.
Central Washington received points based on the football program’s advancement to the Super Region 4 semifinals and the volleyball program’s appearance in the regional quarterfinals. Western Oregon’s points came from the men’s cross country team, which finished 21st at the national meet.
Concordia, which gained NCAA Division II full member status over the summer, is ranked for the first time thanks to the regional appearance by its women’s soccer program. Northwest Nazarene earned its points with advance to the West Region volleyball semifinals.
Colorado Mines leads the Directors’ Cup standings after the fall seasons with 329 points. Cal Baptist, which is in its first year of transition to NCAA Division I, is second with 299 points. Two other West Region schools are ranked ahead of the GNAC teams: Chico State in 13th (174 points) and Cal Poly Pomona in 25th place (141.5).
The GNAC leads all West Region conference with three schools in the top-40 and is tied with the California Collegiate Athletic Association with seven institutions in the top-100.
The Learfield 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.