CLEVELAND, Ohio – The rise of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athletics on the national stage continued this winter, as CMS moved up from 19th after the fall, to 14th in the final winter Learfield Sports Directors' Cup Division III standings for 2014-15. The latest rankings were announced on April 2 by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).
CMS has had continued success in the 19-plus year existence of the Directors’ Cup competition which awards points based on a team’s finish at the NCAA Championships.
With 11 of CMS’ 21 sports seasons now complete, CMS has totaled 409 points, which ranks 14th nationally. This is the highest CMS has ever been ranked after the winter and the second time (2013-14) in the top-25 at this point of the year. Last year, CMS sat in 19th after the winter standings were released. CMS is tops among Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (next best is 73rd) and West Coast programs (next best is 47th).
Each of CMS’ four winter sports placed at the NCAA Division III Championships in their respective sports, which added to the total points CMS has accumulated over the year. Women’s basketball placed 33rd and earned 25 points, men’s basketball placed 17th and earned 50 points, women’s swimming & diving placed 16th and earned 58.5 points and men’s swimming & diving placed fifth and earned 75 points to round out the winter teams. In addition to the four aforementioned winter sports, the following winter sports also count towards the Directors’ Cup standings for Division III; ice hockey (women’s and men’s), skiing, indoor track & field (women’s and men’s) and men’s wrestling.
Women’s cross country (67.5), men’s cross country (60) and women’s volleyball (73) were the fall teams for CMS that placed at their respective NCAA Championships and earned points for CMS.
Updated Directors’ Cup standings will be released two more times over the remainder of the 2014-15 school year. Final standings for the entire 2014-15 school year which include spring sports, are scheduled to be released on June 4.
CMS has been the top finishing SCIAC representative in 14 of the first 19 years of the Directors’ Cup and has finished in the top-60 overall (out of 400-plus institutions) 17 times, with 11 top-30 finishes. CMS finished in a tie for 13th during the 2013-14 school year which was a tie for the program’s best finish ever in the national competition.