All Eight Landmark Schools Ranked in Final Learfield Directors' Cup Standings
Complete Standings | Standings by Conference
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The NCAA Division III final Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup standings were announced recently with an impressive all eight Landmark schools among the rankings.
Catholic University led the league with 254 points and finished the year ranked 68th. The Cardinals were followed by The University of Scranton with 206 points (89th), Susquehanna University (96th, 194.5), Juniata College (188th, 83), Elizabethtown College (193rd, 82.5), Drew University (202nd, 75), Goucher College (241st, 50), and Moravian University (280th, 32).
The Cardinals won both men's and women's lacrosse for the second straight season and competed in both the baseball and softball postseasons. The baseball squad made history this spring as the team finished the season with a program-record 34 wins, its first regionals title, first Super Regionals title, and first NCAA Division III World Series appearance. In the winter, Catholic won its sixth men's swimming and diving championship. Nathan Ober represented the Cardinals at the NCAA Championships where the sophomore earned All-America honors in the 100-yard breaststroke. Another winter Cardinal student-athlete, men's track & field freshman Christian Di Nicolantonio became the first Cardinal to qualify for the national championships in the pole vault. He cleared 4.80 meters which was good enough for 10th place. The first men's track and field athlete to compete at the NCAA indoor meet for Catholic since 2004, Di Nicolantonio qualified with the seventh-best mark in Division III after breaking a 41-year-old program record at 4.91m. Additionally, the women's basketball team, which earned runner-up status in the conference tournament, earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The Cardinal's lone fall title came in men's soccer.
The Royals took home three Landmark Championships this year that included field hockey, women's soccer, and women's basketball. Field Hockey put together a historic fall, winning a program-best 18 games and capturing the first NCAA Tournament victory in program history. Women's soccer advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 and won a league-best eighth Landmark title, and volleyball earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Additionally, Jessica Hoffmann represented the Royals women's cross country program at the NCAA Championships. This winter, the women's basketball team won its seventh straight conference title and made it to the Sweet 16. Scranton competed in six of the all the spring team sports this postseason and finished in the top-four in men's and women's golf.
Overall, SU won six Landmark championships. These included women's cross country, men's basketball, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's outdoor track and field, and softball. The women's cross country team won their third Landmark title and sent a pair of runners, Kallan Carter and Marissa Kleman to the NCAA Championship. Carter finished the race with a personal-best time, breaking her previous best of 22:54.5 ran back at the NCAA Mideast Regional back in 2019 as she posted a time of 22:36.3. Kleman took home 244th on the day with a 23:32.2. SU men's basketball won their opening NCAA game but fell to Christopher Newport, 81-67 in the second round. The River Hawks sent Bryce Ellinger to the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships. At the indoor meet, Ellinger tied with Sam Beatty of Central College for eighth place to earn All-American honors. Softball won its third conference title, and the River Hawks volleyball program earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. SU volleyball made it to the Regional Final.
Juniata women's volleyball won the program's 14th straight Landmark Conference title and 40th straight overall league championship in 2021. The Eagles earned the automatic qualifier for the conference and made a trip to the Final Four. Setter Olivia Foley was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Regional Freshman of the Year. Additionally, the men's basketball team earned a spot in the Landmark Men's Basketball playoffs. The Eagles were edged by conference champion Susquehanna, 76-68.
The Blue Jays had a strong showing in the Landmark in the fall, earning runner-up finishes in men's cross country and women's soccer. Nicholas Garrett was named the conference Men's Performer of the Year and finished 187th for the Jays in 25:23.3 at the NCAA Championships. Teammate Christian Schaaf joined him, and in his final collegiate cross country race, took 251st in 25:52.8. The women's basketball team played in its first NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship since the 2000-01 season after earning an at-large bid to the tournament. The spring season saw Etown capture the baseball title and had three NCAA Outdoor Track & Field qualifiers in Erin Miller (javelin), Kelty Oaster (800m), and Christian Schaaf (5,000m). The Blue Jays were also the runner-up in men's lacrosse.
Drew won a total of four conference titles that included women's swimming and diving, men's and women's golf, and women's tennis. Kayla Diaz of the women's golf team tied for 17th among 151 competitors at the NCAA DIII Championships. She became the first Drew women's golfer to make the final cut at NCAAs, and her 17th-place finish marked the best showing in team history by a Ranger at the event. As a team, Drew tied for 26th among 29 teams, shooting a 54-hole score of 1028 (355-332-341) at the tournament.
Goucher won a conference title in men's tennis to earn the automatic qualifier for the NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament. Additionally, Carter Hinton-Ayodele of the women's track and field team qualified for both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. At the indoor meet, they finished 10th in the women's triple jump and was 19th at the outdoor meet. Hinton-Ayodele was the first track and field Gopher to qualify for nationals.
The Greyhounds won two Landmark titles and had multiple programs with top-five finishes this year. Moravian's team titles came in men's cross country and women's outdoor track and field. Shane Mastro of the men's track and field team, competed at the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the first time in his career, finishing fifth in his flight and 15th overall in the shot put with a toss of 15.42 meters (50-7.25).
For the 11th straight year, Tufts University has finished in the top-10 of the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup standings, this time as the overall champion with 1080.00 total points. This is the first Cup win for Tufts, having scored in 16 total sports, including 13 teams with top-10 finishes. Tufts' highest finish came in women's lacrosse where it finished second overall.
The Learfield Sports Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 18 sports -- nine women's and nine men's.