Thursday, December 23, 2021

CLEVELAND – Thanks to deep playoff runs in volleyball and women’s soccer, Western Washington leads the GNAC and all West Region institutions in the fall Division II Learfield Directors’ Cup standings.

The Vikings stand in 18th place with 175 points in the rankings, which evaluates an athletic program’s success based on each institution’s finish in the NCAA Championships.

Western Washington picked up the bulk of its points in volleyball, receiving 83 for the Vikings’ run into the national semifinals. Women’s soccer netted 64 points for the team’s run to the West Regional final while the men’s cross country team received 28 points for its fifth-place finish at the West Regional Championships.

A total of five GNAC institutions appear in the fall rankings. Seattle Pacific sits in 55th place with 98 points, receiving 73 points for the Falcons’ women’s soccer run to the national quarterfinals and 25 points for the men’s soccer team’s appearance in the West Regional.

Simon Fraser is in 60th place with 83.5 points. The program received 58.5 points for a 16th-place finish in women’s cross country at the NCAA Championships and 25 points for SFU’s appearance in the volleyball West Regional. Central Washington is 65th with 75 points, receiving 50 points for the volleyball team’s run into the regional semifinals and 25 points for the football team’s appearance in the first round of the playoffs.

Alaska Anchorage is 124th with 25 points, all of which were the result of the Seawolves’ appearance in the volleyball West Regional.

Colorado Mines leads the fall Directors’ Cup standings with 373 points, paced by top-four finishes in men’s and women’s cross country and football. The Orediggers are followed by Grand Valley State (368 points), West Texas A&M (252 points), American International (226) and Lenoir-Rhyne (223 points).

The Learfield 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. The winter rankings will be announced on March 31.