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CLEVELAND, Ohio – Virginia finished 17th in the final 2007-08 U.S. Sports Academy Directors’ Cup competition for Division I schools. It marks the 15th 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 of the 15 years of the program’s existence.
Virginia finished 13th in last year’s final Directors’ Cup standings. The Cavaliers’ best showing was eighth in 1999.
Teams or individuals in 21 of Virginia’s 25 athletics programs advanced to postseason competition in 2007-08, including 19 in NCAA championship events. Virginia won six Atlantic Coast Conference championships in 2007-08, the most of any league member. ACC titles were for men’s cross country, women’s lacrosse, women’s rowing, men’s swimming and diving, women’s swimming and diving and men’s tennis.
The men’s tennis team and men’s lacrosse teams both reached the semifinals of the NCAA Championships, while the women’s rowing team placed fifth overall at the NCAAs. Cavalier men’s tennis player Somdev Devvarman repeated as NCAA individual champion. He became the 13th player in the 124-year history of the event to win consecutive titles.
Seven UVa coaches earned eight ACC Coach of the Year awards in their respective sports in 2007-08. Receiving the honor were: Kim Lewellen (women’s golf); Jason Dunn (men’s cross country); Al Groh (football); Mark Bernardino (men’s swimming & diving and women’s swimming & diving); Kevin Sauer (rowing); Julie Myers (women’s lacrosse) and Brian Boland (men’s tennis).
Stanford finished first in the NCAA Division I Directors’ Cup standings for the 14th consecutive year with 1461 points and UCLA was second with 1182 points.
UVa was the top Division I program in the state of Virginia in the Directors’ Cup standings with 869 points and one of four ACC schools to finish in the top 20. North Carolina finished 14th with 978.50 points, while Florida State was 15th (971.50) and Duke was 19th (821.00).
In addition to Virginia’s 17th-place finish in this year’s Directors’ Cup standings and 13th place finish last year, UVa finished 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 U.S. Sports Academy 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 U.S. Sports Academy’s 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.
2007-08 U.S. Sports Academy Directors’ Cup
Final Point Standings
1. Stanford 1461.00
2. UCLA 1182.00
3. Michigan 1161.50
4. Arizona State 1146.00
5. Texas 1129.50
6. Florida 1126.75
7. California 1120.00
8. LSU 1085.00
9. Penn State 1041.00
10. Georgia 1040.00
11. Ohio State 1034.75
12. Texas A&M 1031.00
13. Southern California 1011.25
14. North Carolina 978.50
15. Florida State 971.50
16. Tennessee 953.75
17. Virginia 869.00
18. Wisconsin 830.50
19. Duke 821.00
20. Auburn 761.50
21. Notre Dame 760.50
22. Washington 745.25
23. Oklahoma 714.00
24. Arkansas 697.00
25. Alabama 683.00
26. Oregon 680.75
27. Arizona 666.50
28. Minnesota 656.75
29. Michigan State 638.25
30. West Virginia 630.50
Schools Ranked in the Top-30 of All 15 Directors’ Cup Point Standings (1994-2008)
Arizona
Arizona State
California
Florida
Georgia
Michigan
North Carolina
Ohio State
Penn State
Stanford
Tennessee
Texas
UCLA
USC
Virginia