Ithaca College

Ithaca College achieved its highest finish in 10 years with a 12th-place finish in the final standings of the Division III Learfield Sports Directors' Cup rankings and a total of 671 points. The Directors' Cup ranks the nation's elite intercollegiate athletic programs based on their finish in championship events. Directors' Cup points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 18 sports in NCAA postseason competition, measuring nine women's sports and nine men's sports.

Ithaca has placed in the top-26 of the standings in all 19 years that the Directors' Cup has been awarded, and the 2013-14 year was Ithaca's best finish since an 11th-place standing in the 2003-04 academic year.

Consistent point-scoring and team achievement kept Ithaca in the top-20 of the national standings for the duration of the academic year. Ithaca was 20th after the fall season with 177 points, earned by national-tournament finishes in football (t-9th), women's soccer (t-5th) and women's cross country (23rd). Ithaca totaled 177 points in the fall season.

Ithaca's winter sports programs placed in five NCAA championship events. The women's basketball team placed tied for fifth in a record-breaking season. The Ithaca wrestling team sent six wrestlers to the NCAA Championships and finished 11th in team standings. In indoor women's track & field, Ithaca athletes earned enough points to place 40th overall. Additionally, the men's swimming & diving team placed tied for 24th and women's swimming & diving athletes gave Ithaca a 30th-place finish. Ithaca earned 262.5 points during the winter season.

In the spring season, five more varsity teams placed at NCAA Championships, led by women's golf making its inaugural NCAA appearance and placing tied for fifth. The men's lacrosse team returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006 and placed tied for ninth. Softball and women's tennis each placed tied for 17th, and long-jumper Emilia Scheemaker of the women's track & field team had an all-American finish and earned a team point that placed Ithaca 76th. Ithaca's earned 231.5 points in the spring.

Just one other Division III institution within the state ranked in the top-25, Cortland at 23rd place. The nearest Empire 8 competitor finished in 44th place. Ithaca is one of seven schools to have placed in the top-30 of the final standings in each of the award's first 19 years, a group that also includes Amherst, Calvin, Cortland, Emory, Middlebury and Williams.

The Learfield Sports Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. For more information on the program and complete standings across all divisions, visit www.directorscup.org.