CLEVELAND, Ohio - Virginia finished eighth in the final 2008-09 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup competition for Division I schools. The final results were announced today by the National Association of Directors of Athletics (NACDA). It ties the best finish ever by Virginia in the 16-year history of the program. The Cavaliers were also eighth in 1999.
It marks the 16th consecutive year, since the program's inception, the Cavaliers have recorded a top-30 finish. UVa is one of 15 schools to rank in the top 30 of the final Directors' Cup standings in each year of the program's existence. Virginia finished 17th in last year's final Directors' Cup standings.
“Our athletics department’s ranking of eighth in this year’s final Directors’ Cup standings matches our highest ranking and is affirmation of the hard work put in by our student-athletes, coaches and our entire department staff,” said UVa athletics director Craig Littlepage. “It is also an indication that the support and dedication of our alumni, friends, faculty and University staff, and donors are yielding results. Our future challenge is to be an athletics program that consistently performs among the nation’s top 10 in the Directors’ Cup standings, while at the same time ranking among the national leaders in the academic achievements of our student-athletes.”
Teams or individuals in 20 of Virginia's 25 athletic programs advanced to postseason competition in 2008-09. Virginia won six Atlantic Coast Conference championships in 2008-09, the most of any league member. ACC titles were for – men’s cross country, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s tennis, men’s outdoor track and field and baseball.
Some of the highlights of the athletics year included:
• A total of 89 Cavalier student-athletes earned All-ACC honors in 2008-09.
• Virginia had 62 student-athletes named to All-America teams for their respective programs during the year.
• The Virginia baseball team advanced to the College World Series for the first time after winning its first Regional (Irvine, Calif.) and Super Regional (Oxford, Miss.).
• The Virginia women’s golf team had its best finish at the NCAA Championships (eighth).
• Dominic Inglot (London, England) and Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) became the first doubles team from the ACC to win the NCAA Men’s Doubles Championship.
• The Virginia men’s tennis team went 32-1 and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships. The team also won the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Men’s National Team Indoor Championship for the second consecutive year.
• Ryan Foster (Stephens City, Va.) became the first Cavalier to win the men’s individual title at the ACC Cross Country Championships.
• The UVa men’s lacrosse team reached the semifinals of the NCAA Championships finishing 15-3.
• The women’s rowing team finished fourth at the NCAA Championships and the Cavaliers’ Varsity Eight finished second in that event. The Cavaliers won the NCAA South/Central Regional.
• The men’s swimming and diving team finished ninth at the 2009 NCAA Championships, the best finish for the Cavaliers in the history of the program. The UVa women were 12th at NCAAs.
• Senior Yemi Ayeni became the first Cavalier to win an NCAA track and field regional title when he finished first in the discus. He also won the ACC title in the event and placed fourth at the NCAA Championships.
Several members of Virginia coaching staffs were cited for outstanding achievement during the year. Cavalier baseball coach Brian O’Connor was named the national coach of the year. UVa women’s golf coach Kim Lewellen was one of three national regional coaches of the year, and Jason Vigilante was named the southeast regional women’s cross country coach of the year and the NCAA men’s southeast region outdoor track and field coach of the year. UVa men’s tennis coach Brian Boland was the ITA mideast region coach of the year and Carrie Lane was named the NCAA women’s southeast region outdoor track and field assistant coach of the year.
Four different Virginia coaches won a total of six ACC Coach of the Year awards. Mark Bernardino was the men’s and women’s swimming coach of the year, Boland was the men’s tennis coach of the year, Dom Starsia was the men’s lacrosse coach of the year and Vigilante was named the men’s cross country and men’s outdoor track and field coach of the year.
Stanford finished first in the NCAA Division I Directors' Cup standings for the 15th consecutive year with 1455 points and North Carolina was second with 1184.25 points.
UVa was the top Division I program in the state of Virginia in the Directors' Cup standings with 1059 points and one of four ACC schools to finish in the top 20. In addition to North Carolina and UVa, Florida State was 15th (945) and Duke was 17th (891.8).
In addition to Virginia's eighth-place finish in this year's Directors' Cup standings and 17th place finish last year, UVa finished 13th in 2007, 26th in 2006, 13th in 2005, 30th in 2004, 19th in 2003, 27th in 2002, 30th in 2001, 13th in 2000, eighth in 1999, 13th in 1998, 22nd in 1997, 21st in 1996, tied for 19th in 1995 and 19th in 1994.
There are four Learfield Sports Directors' Cup awards, one to honor the institution with the best overall athletics program in each of the NCAA's Divisions I, II and III, and the NAIA. Developed as a joint effort between USA Today and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), the Learfield Sports 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.
2008-09 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup
Final Point Standings
1. Stanford 1455.00
2. North Carolina 1184.25
3. Florida 1172.75
4. Southern California 1137.75
5. Michigan 1131.80
6. Texas 1105.50
7. California 1072.00
8. Virginia 1059.00
9. LSU 1029.00
10. Ohio State 1015.80
11. Washington 1010.25
12. Arizona State 1001.75
13. Texas A&M 976.00
14. Minnesota 975.75
15. Florida State 945.00
16. UCLA 909.25
17. Duke 891.80
18. Georgia 866.50
19. Penn State 813.10
20. Illinois 808.75
21. Notre Dame 775.13
22. Oregon 757.25
23. Tennessee 746.25
24. Arizona 738.50
25. Arkansas 730.00
26. Auburn 720.00
27. Michigan State 708.05
28. Maryland 668.80
29. Oklahoma 656.50
30. Alabama 650.60
ACC Schools in Final 2008-09 Directors’ Cup Standings
2. North Carolina 1184.25
8. Virginia 1059.00
15. Florida State 945.00
17. Duke 891.80
28. Maryland 668.80
37. Wake Forest 580.25
43. Miami 491.00
46. Virginia Tech 459.25
48. Georgia Tech 452.38
53. Clemson 397.00
74. NC State 265.30
75. Boston College 262.00
Schools Ranked in the Top-30 of All 16 Directors’ Cup Point Standings (1994-2009)
Arizona
Arizona State
California
Florida
Georgia
Michigan
North Carolina
Ohio State
Penn State
Stanford
Tennessee
Texas
UCLA
USC
Virginia
Full Scoreboard
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
