Wheaton earns its highest ranking in six-year history of Sears Directors' Cup Award
June 15, 2001
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- Sears, Roebuck and Co. and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of America (NACDA) have announced that Wheaton College finished 22nd overall in the prestigious Sears Directors' Cup in NCAA Division III competition for the 2000-01 academic year. Presented annually to the best overall collegiate athletics programs in the country, Wheaton earned its highest ranking in the six-year history of the award.
Williams College (Mass.) defended its title as the best athletics program in NCAA Division III by winning its fifth Sears Directors' Cup. The 2000-01 Sears Directors' Cup winners were announced at the NACDA Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the four winning institutions -- one in each of the NCAA Divisions (I, II, and III) and the NAIA -- were awarded with their Sears Directors' Cups and scholarships.
Wheaton posted 366.5 points, 170 points better than the 1999-2000 academic year and 12 points ahead of Tufts University (Mass.) and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Lyons recorded the fourth highest standing in New England behind Williams, second place Middlebury College (VT) and 14th place Amherst College (Mass.). Wheaton won its third national championship in women's indoor track and field and first in outdoor track and field, while posting additional top 10 finishes in softball (3rd), men's indoor track and field (5th), men's outdoor track and field (7th) and women's soccer (9th). Also adding points for the Lyons were the men's soccer (17th) and baseball (32) teams. Wheaton scored in three women's and three men's sports.
Several team milestones highlighted the year, including Paul Souza's women's track and field team becoming only the fourth Division III school ever to win three consecutive indoor national titles in addition to being placed in elite company with capturing both the indoor and outdoor crowns in the same year. Souza also led his men's indoor track and field squad to their best finish. Gina Loudenburg's softball team defeated the defending champions, St. Mary's University (MN), and in the process equaled their most successful season with a third place standing overall, while Lou Reis' women's soccer team's first NCAA berth saw them advance to the New England Regional final contest after winning the NEWMAC regular season and tournament championships.
Other outstanding performances came from Eric Podbelski's baseball team, setting a school record with 31 wins in their second straight tournament appearance following their third consecutive conference regular season and tournament titles, and Matt Cushing's men's soccer team, gaining their second NCAA Tournament berth over the last four years.
Developed as a joint effort between USA TODAY and NACDA, the Sears Directors' Cup program is the only all-sports competition that recognizes the institution in each of the four categories with the best overall athletics program. The Sears Directors' Cup is part of the Sears Collegiate Champions program which annually awards more than 2,200 conference and sport champion trophies and a quarter-of-a-million dollars in academic scholarships.
Of the 395 eligible colleges and universities in the NCAA Division III, a total of 270 (68 percent) scored points in the Sears Directors' Cup competition. Complete final rankings on all of these institutions are available on NACDA's Web site at www.nacda.com
Last updated on 6/15/01.
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