U-M fourth in Sears Directors’ Cup

157-pound Ryan Bertin overpowers his opponenet at a wrestling meet. (Photo courtesy of Athletic Department Public Relations)

The U-M Athletic Department has moved into fourth place in the 2001–02 Sears Directors’ Cup overall standings, trailing only Stanford, North Carolina and Minnesota. The current standings include both the fall and winter NCAA Championships and were released April 25 by the National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors (NACDA).

The U-M concluded the 2001 fall athletic season in a tie for sixth-place in the Sears Cup standings with Florida and Nebraska.

The Wolverines jumped out to a quick start in the fall season, earning their first women’s national championship in field hockey. They built on that strong opening by collecting five top-10 finishes in the winter season, including a third-place finish in men’s ice hockey (losing to eventual champion Minnesota in the semifinals) and a fourth-place finish in men’s gymnastics. Also placing in the top 10 in NCAA Championship final competition was the women’s gymnastics team (7th), the wrestling team (9th) and the men’s swimming and diving team (9th).

As a conference, the Big Ten’s seven representatives are the highest total of any conference, as the SEC rates second with five teams in the top 25. Besides Michigan, Minnesota also ranks in the top four, sitting in third place by virtue of its two national championships in ice hockey and wrestling.

Other Big Ten schools in the top 25 include Penn State (7th), Indiana (14th), Ohio State (20th), Michigan State (21st) and Wisconsin (23rd).

The nation’s athletic directors present the Sears Directors’ Cup. The standings are based on points awarded for finishes in NCAA Championship competition for all varsity sports. NACDA developed the point structure.

The complete standings, including a breakdown by sport, and the scoring structure can be found on the NACDA Web site at www.nacda.com.