NACDA Release/Website

BURLINGTON, Vt. – The University of Vermont athletic department posted its best ranking in the final standings for the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup for the second straight year. The Catamounts cracked the top-100 (98th) for the first time in school history with a school record 183 points. The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) made the announcement on Monday.

The Directors’ Cup is presented annually by NACDA, Learfield Sports and USA Today to the best overall collegiate athletics programs in the country in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III and the NAIA. The 2008-09 winners were announced and awarded their Directors’ Cups at NACDA’s 44th Annual Convention in Orlando, Florida. The winning institutions were Stanford in Division I, Grand Valley State (Mich.) in Division II, Williams (Mass.) in Division III and Azusa Pacific (Calif.) in the NAIA.

"We are very excited to have reached this significant competitive milestone," said Dr. Robert Corran, Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics at Vermont. "It is all the more meaningful coming as our student-athletes' are achieving unprecedented academic success."

A pair of NCAA individual national championships, two teams advancing to the NCAA Tournament and an America East Championship highlighted the 2008-09 University of Vermont athletic season. The Catamounts posted their best winning percentage, both overall and in conference play, in six years.

Vermont also continued to show its commitment to developing student-athletes. UVM won the America East Academic Cup for the fifth consecutive season and sixth time overall. Catamount student-athletes achieved a 3.14 cumulative grade-point average during the 2008-09 year, tying the highest grade-point average in the 14-year history of the award, which Vermont set during the 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2007-08 academic years. UVM student-athletes boasted the highest grade-point average in department history with a 3.2 GPA for the spring semester of 2009, marking the 14th consecutive semester the UVM athletic department has earned a 3.0 GPA or better. A total of 14 teams earned GPA's over 3.0 in the spring of 2009.

The Learfield Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors of America (NACDA) and the USA Today in 1993-94 in an effort to honor universities that strive for success in all of their sports programs. The program was expanded in 1995-96 to include Division II, III and the NAIA. Each institution is awarded points based on an institutions' finish in 20 sports, 10 each for men and women.

AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE SCHOOLS IN NACDA STANDINGS
Rank (Points) – School
68 (305.80) – Boston University
78 (254.00) – New Hampshire
98 (183.00) – Vermont
145 (109.00) – Binghamton
147 (105.00) – Albany
235 (25) – Maine
N/R – Hartford
N/R – UMBC
N/R – Stony Brook