Adams State moves up to second in Directors' Cup standings

CLEVELAND— Scoring points in four winter sports, the Adams State College Grizzlies stand in second place amongst more than 200 institutions that have scored points in the most recent 2009-10 NCAA Division II Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Standings released Thursday by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

The Grizzlies, who won their third national title of the academic year in the sport of men’s indoor track and field last month, now have 463 total points in the all-sports competition that rewards institutions points based on their finishes in national championship tournaments.  That title netted the Grizzlies 100 of the 263 points that they scored in the winter sports season alone and helped move them up from 11th place, where the Grizzlies stood after the fall sports season.

The Grizzlies also scored 75 points for their fifth place finish in women’s indoor track and field, 63 for their 13th place finish in wrestling and 25 in the sport of women’s basketball after that Grizzly squad qualified for the NCAA Division II National Tournament for the first time in program history.

Adams State, which is the only school to have won three national titles this year, had 200 points through the fall sports thanks to the national championship efforts by the men’s and women’s cross country teams.

Grand Valley State (Mich.), which has won the last six Directors’ Cup titles, continues to lead the overall standings with 710 ½ points as the Lakers tallied points in five winter sports. 

Adams State’s Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival Colorado Mines is in third place with 418 points.

The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup was developed as a joint effort between NACDA and USA Today.  Points are awarded based on each institution’s finish in up to 14 sports — seven women’s and seven men’s.  National Championships teams earn 100 points for their institution while other national championship qualifying teams are awarded points on a sliding scale based on their finish and the size of the championship field.

The Grizzlies are the only school in the RMAC and the only school in Colorado (all divisions) to have ever won the all-sports competition doing so in 1998-99 when it was known as the Sears Directors’ Cup.  ASC has six total top 10 and 12 consecutive top 20 finishes, also the longest such streak in the RMAC and in Colorado.

Another set of standings will be released in May while the final standings, that will include all spring sports, will be announced in June.

Complete standings and the scoring structure can be found on NACDA’s website by clicking here.