Grand Valley State Claims Seventh Straight Learfield Sports Directors' Cup Title

Portions of this release courtesy of the Ashland University, Grand Valley State University and Wayne State University Sports Information Departments

Anaheim, Calif. - Grand Valley State University claimed top honors in the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings for the seventh consecutive year it was announced today by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). The Learfield Sports Directors' Cup trophy, which is commonly known as the all-sports trophy, is presented to the top athletic department in the country. The scoring system is based on the national finishes of seven men's and seven women's sports.

Click here to view the final D-II Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings

The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) was well represented in the final Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings as five member institutions were ranked among the top 52 teams in Division II.

Aside from GVSU, which tallied 1021.50 pionts, the GLIAC also boasted the top private school in the final stadings as Ashland University finished seventh with 636.75 points.  Wayne State University placed 21st with 454.50 points.  The University of Findlay finished in 34th place with 392.25 points, while Hillsdale College placed 52nd with 317.50 points.

GVSU was able to tally points in the maximum of 14 sports (7 men's, 7 women's). The Lakers placed a total of 16 teams in postseason play during the 2009-10 academic year, with eleven teams finishing in the top 10 nationally. GVSU used consistency throughout each season, collecting 355.00 points in the fall, 330.50 points in the winter and 336.00 points in the spring. The Laker women scored 570.5 points, while the men scored 451.0 points.

GVSU's seven Directors' Cup titles are tops among all NCAA DII school's and the 2009-10 campaign marked the third straight year that Grand Valley State has eclipsed the 1,000-point total.

The Eagles' 636.75 points is the highest point total ever. This past year, AU sent 14 teams into the NCAA postseason.  The women’s track team finished tied for second in the country at the indoor national championship meet and both the men’s and women’s swimming teams finished in the Top 10 at nationals (women – seventh, men – 10^th).  The track and field program produced five national championships and in swimming, the women’s 200 free relay won a national title, the first relay crown in the program’s history.

In the spring, six AU teams were involved in postseason play. The baseball team went to the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year and the softball team was in the postseason mix for the second straight season, advancing to the Midwest Super Region Tournament, one step away from the World Series.

After garnering 220 points from winter sports (90 from women's swimming/diving, 85 men's swimming/diving, and 45 from men's and women's fencing), the five Wayne State spring sports squads combined for 234.5 points as all five teams qualified for NCAA post-season play in the same year for the first time in school history.

Softball led the way with a seventh place national finish (73 points), while men's golf earned 61.5 points by virtue of its 14th place finish at the national championship.  Women's tennis accumulated 50 points after advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament (17th place national finish).  Both the baseball and men's tennis squads tallied 25 points.

The 454.5 total points for WSU is the second-highest mark in school history, trailing only the 2008-09 total of 499 points.

Wayne State has had its top nine all-time NACDA finishes in the last nine seasons, including six years of the last seven in the top 10 percent of Division II.