June 16, 2003
Truman Finishes Eighth In The NACDA Directors' Cup Standings
Complete Standings in .pdf format
Truman State University's athletic department finished eighth during the 2002-03 season in the NACDA Directors' Cup standings for NCAA Division II schools. The Directors' Cup is the award presented annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) to the best overall collegiate athletics programs in the country.
The Bulldogs' eighth-place finish marks the fifth-straight season that the school has placed in the top 10 in the Directors' Cup standings. Truman finished 4.5 points ahead of ninth-place Central Missouri to have the highest finish among Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) schools. The Bulldogs have now had the highest finish in the Directors' Cup race among conference schools in four out of the last five years.
Truman scored 492.5 points during the season with points coming from 10 different programs. UC-Davis won the award for the sixth time after recording 857 points. Other schools in the top 10 included Grand Valley State (Mich.) (797.5), North Florida (628.5), CS-Bakersfield (597.5), South Dakota State (562), Northern Colorado (555.5), Abilene Christian (Texas) (539) and Nebraska-Omaha (472).
The Bulldogs started out the year in sixth-place after the fall season with 189.5 points. The Truman volleyball team, which finished as runner-up in the NCAA tournament, recorded 90 points. Other points came from the women's soccer team, which had 53 points after advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament, and the men's cross country squad, which earned 46.5 points after finishing 14th at the national meet.
In the winter, Truman slipped a spot to seventh overall with a total of 396.5 points. The women's swimming team led the way after earning 100 points for their third straight national championship. The men's swimming team, which placed 12th at nationals, recorded 54 points and the wrestling team, which was 21st in the nation, earned 53 points.
In the spring, four sports scored points towards Truman's final total. The women's track and field team, which was 42nd at the national championships, had 31.5 points. The men's track and field team finished 50th at nationals and earned 22 points. The Bulldogs softball squad earned another NCAA tournament berth and recorded 25 points. The men's golf team scored 17.5 points after advancing to the NCAA regional competition.