ANAHEIM, Calif. – Deep NCAA tournament runs by West Liberty University’s nationally-ranked men’s basketball and football teams propelled the Hilltoppers to their highest finish ever in the 15th annual Learfield Sports NCAA Division II Director’s Cup.
The Learfield Sports Director’s Cup was instituted in 1996 as a joint effort between the National Association of College Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and the USA Today. Points for the “all-sports trophy” are awarded based on an institution’s finish in NCAA Championship tournament competition in as many as 14 sports – 7 men’s and 7 women’s – during the 2009-10 academic year.
With six West Liberty teams earning NCAA postseason bids, the Hilltoppers accumulated 268 points to finish 69th out of the 287 NCAA Division II teams eligible for consideration.
West Liberty’s 268 points were the second-highest total for a West Virginia Conference school this year. Seton Hill finished 61st with a total of 287.5 points. It’s the first time two WVIAC schools have ever cracked the top 70 in the same academic year. The Hilltoppers were the top-rated WVIAC team in the 2001-02, 2003-04 and 2006-07 academic years.
The WLU football team was credited with a fifth-place finish after advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs last fall. That was worth 70 points in the Director’s Cup scoring system.
The men’s basketball team’s trip to the “Sweet 16” was worth 64 points while the wrestling team added 50 points to the West Liberty total by finishing in the Top 20 at the NCAA Division II championship meet.
The men’s tennis team also earned 50 points by advancing to the Atlantic Region finals and the women’s basketball team chipped in with 25 points by qualifying for the Atlantic Regional tournament. The men’s golf team received 5 points as a combined East/Atlantic Regional qualifier.
Grand Valley (Mich.) State won its seventh consecutive NCAA Division II Director’s Cup with ease as 16 Laker teams advanced to postseason play. Grand Valley’s women’s soccer team won a national championship while 10 other GVSU sports charted top 10 finishes on the NCAA Division II championship scene.
A total of 233 NCAA Division II schools had at least one intercollegiate athletic team advance to NCAA postseason play during the 2009-10 academic year. West Liberty and Seton Hill were the only WVIAC schools to make the top 100.
