Tufts ranks seventh among Division III schools in Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings
Following a very successful spring season, during which six teams qualified for NCAA championship events, the Tufts University varsity athletics program earned a final ranking of seventh in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup among the 300-plus schools in NCAA Division III for 2013–14.
The Directors’ Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution’s finish in up to 18 sports at NCAA events—nine women’s and nine men’s.
This is Tufts’ third-best finish in Directors’ Cup history, which now includes seven top-10 finishes.
Women’s tennis, under head coach Kate Bayard, reached the NCAA regional finals to score 64 Cup points. Head coach Ethan Barron’s men’s outdoor track and field team placed 21st at the NCAA championships, scoring 53 points. In women’s outdoor track and field, head coach Kristen Morwick’s Jumbos tied for 23rd, adding 49 points to the Jumbo total, led by a national championship win in the 400-meter hurdles by Jana Hieber. The Tufts baseball team, coached by John Casey, competed in NCAA regional action and earned 25 points.
Tufts earned 391 Cup points this spring, moving up eight positions from its place in the winter standings. Tufts had been 15th in the Directors’ Cup after the winter season and 25th following the fall season.
Four Jumbo winter teams overall competed in NCAA events. Head coach Carla Berube’s women’s basketball team advanced to its first Final Four and scored 83 Cup points. The men’s track and field team earned 57.88 points for its 15th-place finish at the NCAA championships. Head coach Adam Hoyt’s men’s swimming and diving team, which featured one-meter diving national champion Johann Schmidt, scored 55 Cup points for its 19th-place finish at NCAAs. The women’s track and field team was 32nd at the NCAA meet, scoring 39.5 in the Director’s Cup. The Jumbo winter teams totaled 235.38 points overall.
Barron’s and Morwick’s cross country teams also scored Director’s Cup points in the fall. Women’s cross country was 13th at the NCAA meet (63 points), and men’s cross country was 17th (57 points). The Tufts field hockey team, coached by Tina McDavitt, added 53 points to Tufts’ 173 fall total by advancing to the NCAA second round.
Tufts’ final 2013–14 total of 799.38 points is third among New England Small College Athletic Conference teams. Tufts is one of five NESCAC schools ranked among the top 25 overall.
For the complete list, go to 2013–14 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Final Standings.
Tufts Sports Information Director Paul Sweeney can be reached at paul.sweeney@tufts.edu.
