Quote from Grand Valley State Athletics Director Tim Selgo:

“While we’re very proud of all the competitive success of all our student-athletes, we’re proud of them in other ways as well. This past semester, 59.6 percent of our student-athletes achieved a three-point grade point average or better and have accumulated a total of 3,200 community service hours. Our competitive success is due in large part to the outstanding conference we compete in. In this year’s Directors’ Cup standings, four our conference members finished in the top 20.”

Minnesota State-Mankato, Central Missouri, Abilene Christian and Indianapolis rounded out the Top 5.

–Courtesy NACDA.com

The Lakers totaled 382 points, 141 more than second-place University of Massachusetts Lowell. GVSU finished in the top 10 of the five championships they qualified for — women’s cross country (second), women’s volleyball (third), men’s cross country (fifth), football (fifth) and women’s soccer (ninth).

The second place River Hawks placed second in women’s field hockey, fifth in men’s soccer, 13th in men’s cross country and 22nd in women’s cross country. Tampa is in a close third position after finishing third in men’s soccer, 14th in women’s cross country and 17th in both women’s volleyball and women’s soccer.

Minnesota-Duluth sits in fourth place after winning the national title in football and earning points in women’s cross country and volleyball. Rounding out the top five was Metropolitan State (CO) after the Roadrunners finished third in women’s soccer, 14th in men’s cross country, 17th in men’s soccer, 19th in women’s cross country and 33rd in women’s volleyball.

The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup is 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 14 sports — seven women’s and seven men’s.

–Courtesy NACDA

Grand Valley State claimed its fifth straight Directors’ Cups in dominating fashion. The Lakers tallied a DII Directors’ Cup record 1,028.75 points and became the first-ever DII school to go over the 1,000-point mark. In addition, the Lakers became the first-ever school to win five straight Directors’ Cup titles. Abilene Christian (Tex.) finished second with 808 points, followed by Minnesota State Mankator in third (788.75). UC San Diego was fourth (752.00) and Tampa was fifth (650).

The Lakers placed in 17 postseason championships, earning points in the maximum of seven men’s and seven women’s sports. Grand Valley State finished third in women’s cross country, women’s soccer, football, women’s golf, fourth in men’s cross country, men’s indoor track and field, and fifth in women’s volleyball and men’s basketball. The Lakers also placed sixth in men’s outdoor track and field and women’s indoor track and field, eighth in women’s outdoor track and field, 14th in men’s golf, 16th in women’s swimming and 17th in men’s tennis. Eleven teams placed in the top 10 nationally, including eight that finished in the top five. The Lakers averaged 71.6 points in seven men’s sports and 75.3 points in seven women’s sports. All told, the Laker women scored 527.25 points, while the men scored 501.75 points.

FULL STORY

–Courtesy GVSU Athletics

The Maverick wrestling team finished second at the national tournament to earn 90 Directors’ Cup points. The MSU men’s indoor track & field team finished seventh to rack up 72 points, the women’s track team was eighth for 70.5 points, the MSU women’s swim team tallied 51 points with its 22nd-place finish and the men’s swim team was 14th, which gave the Mavericks 48 points. Women’s basketball was credited with 64 points after making it to the regional championship game and the men’s basketball team, which lost in a first-round NCAA contest, tallied 25 points with its 33rd-place finish.

Grand Valley State, which tallied 315 points during the winter season, is in first place of the 2007-08 Director’s Cup standings with 719.25 total points. The Mavericks, who scored more points then any other department in the country during the winter with 420.50 points, is in second with 584.50 total points. Tampa is third with 502.00 points and Adams State is fourth with 447.50 points. There are a total of 290 schools that compete at the NCAA Division II level.

1 Grand Valley State 719.25
2 Minnesota State 584.50
3 Tampa 505.00
4 Adams State 447.50
5 Nebraska-Omaha 429.00
6 South Dakota 407.00
7 California (Pa.) 401.00
8 UC San Diego 390.00
9 Abilene Christian 379.50
10 Seattle Pacific 356.00

FULL STORY

–Excerpt courtesy MSU Athletics

Tampa is a close second, trailing GVSU by only five points. The Spartans have accumulated 316 points by finishing first in women’s soccer, fifth in volleyball and ninth in men’s soccer.

Massachusetts-Lowell, who ranked second after the first Director’s Cup standings, is currently third. The Riverhawks now have 251 points after placing ninth in men’s soccer and 33rd in women’s soccer.

Rounding out the top five are Cal State-Chico and Dowling (NY), who are forth and fifth, respectively. The Wildcats added 50 points to their previous total of 152, after placing 33rd in both women’s soccer and women’s volleyball.

Nine points behind Cal State-Chico are the Golden Lions, who placed fifth in men’s soccer and women’s volleyball and 33rd in women’s soccer.

Six of the seven fall NCAA championships have been completed with the following institutions capturing titles: women’s cross country (Adams State), men’s cross country (Abilene Christian), women’s field hockey (Bloomsburg, Pa.), women’s soccer (Tampa, Fla.), men’s soccer (Franklin Pierce, N.H.) and women’s volleyball (Concordia, Minn.).

–Courtesy NACDA

The Lakers had top-10 finishes in 12 of the 14 sports used for the tally. GVSU actually scored in 19 sports, but only 14 are counted in the final total, seven sports in each gender. The winning score of 995.75 was compiled by the following sports: football (1st), women’s soccer (2nd), women’s cross country (3rd), men’s cross country (5th), women’s indoor track (3rd), men’s indoor track (5th), men’s basketball (5th), women’s outdoor track (5th), men’s outdoor track (8th), baseball (9th), women’s golf (9th), softball (9th), women’s tennis (17th) and men’s golf (36th). GVSU also won its ninth consecutive President’s Cup award as the best athletic program in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. No Lakers team finished any lower than third place in any league sport.

For the third time overall, UC-San Diego (802) was runner-up to the award. The Tritons had nine teams with top-10 finishes including women’s rowing (2nd), men’s water polo (3rd), women’s volleyball (5th), women’s soccer (5th), women’s basketball (3rd), women’s swimming (3rd), men’s swimming (5th), men’s tennis (3rd), and women’s track (8th). Abilene Christian was third overall with 761.75 points. The Wildcats had several teams with top-10 finishes including men’s cross country (1st), men’s indoor track, women’s indoor track, men’s outdoor track (1st), women’s outdoor track (2nd), men’s tennis, women’s tennis. Men’s golf finished 16th.

Finishing fourth in the standings was Minnesota State – Mankato with 642.25 points. The first time for the Mavericks in the top-five Cup standings, they scored with top-10 finishes in wrestling (4th), bowling (5th), men’s cross country (9th) and men’s basketball (9th). North Dakota (635) rounded out the top-five with top-10 finishes in football (5th), women’s swimming (5th), women’s basketball (5th), men’s hockey (3rd) and women’s golf (6th). This is the fifth time the Sioux have placed in the top-five overall final results for the Cup.

The Lakers, leaders in every ranking this year, are seeking their fourth consecutive Directors’ Cup. GVSU won the football title, was runner-up in women’s soccer and had Top 10 finishes in men’s basketball, women’s cross country, men’s soccer, along with men’s and women’s track and field. In remaining competition, Grand Valley is currently 11th in baseball, made the NCAA tourney in men’s and women’s tennis, and is regionally ranked in softball.

A 4-peat would tie the DII record set by UC-Davis from 1999-2003. The NACDA Directors’ Cup is known for dominance and streaks by certain schools. For example, DI Stanford is looking for its 13th straight win out of the 14 years of the awards existence. D3 Williams College has won eight in a row and ten out of the past eleven years. Azusa Pacific has won back-to-back in the NAIA. All three schools currently lead their divisions, meaning we could have the same four winners for the third year in a row.

Grand Valley State University 699.5
University of California – San Diego 507.5
University of North Dakota 478
Adams State University 445
Minnesota State University – Mankato 443.5

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D2SportsTalk Editor