Razorbacks Swimming and Diving Earns Top 25 Directors Cup Ranking

Courtesy University of Arkansas Athletics Department

FAYETTEVILLE – The University of Arkansas is ranked 24th in the nation in the latest standings of the 2012-13 Learfield Sports Directors Cup standings after earning 48 points for its best women’s swimming and diving national finish in more than a decade. The Directors Cup is a competition that tracks the nation’s most successful intercollegiate athletic programs for their athletic performances throughout the year. The second edition of the winter standings was released Thursday by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of America (NACDA).

The Razorbacks have earned 376.5 points this year and currently rank fifth among Southeastern Conference schools. Arkansas ranked 35th in the final fall standings, but has jumped into the top 25 based on strong showings by men’s and women’s indoor track and field and women’s swimming and diving.

Under first year head coach Sean Schimmel, the women’s swimming and diving team earned a 26th place finish at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship in Indianapolis, Ind. The finish was the seventh-best NCAA finish in school history and the best since Arkansas placed 25th overall in 1990, prior to joining the Southeastern Conference. The Razorbacks 24 points scored at the NCAA Championship was the highest point total for an Arkansas team since 2004 when the Razorbacks scored 24 points and finished 27th overall in the team competition.

Arkansas got off to a fast start in the scoring for the winter standings. The Razorback men’s track and field team earned 100 points after capturing the 2013 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship at the Randal Tyson Center in Fayetteville. The national title was the 41st in program history, including the 20th NCAA indoor crown. It marked the first national title for men’s head coach Chris Bucknam and the first for the Razorbacks since 2006.

Arkansas also picked up 80 points from a fourth-place national finish by its women’s team at the NCAA Indoor meet after capturing the SEC title earlier in the month. It marked the second time in the past three years the Razorback women’s team has earned a fourth-place national finish indoors.

The Razorbacks earned 148.5 points in the fall. The men’s cross country team won its fifth-consecutive SEC cross country and track title before earning a top-10 finish at the NCAA meet. Arkansas earned 67.5 points for its 10th place finish at the NCAA Championship. The Razorback women’s cross country team advanced to the national meet by winning the South Central Regional before finishing 18th at the NCAA Championship. Arkansas earned 56 points for its national finish. In 2011-12, Arkansas finished 20th in the Directors Cup, earning its first top 20-finish in more than a decade and for the first time since the current scoring format was adopted in 2000. Arkansas finished second in the nation among programs with 19 or fewer sports and sixth among programs with 20 or fewer sports. The Directors Cup awards points for up to 20 varsity sports.

Arkansas has finished in the top 25 four times in the past five years, the best stretch in school history. In addition to last year’s 20th-place finish, the Razorbacks finished 24th in 2010-11, 25th in 2008-09 and 24th in 2007-08.

The Directors’ Cup program has been tracking the success of the nation’s top intercollegiate athletics programs since 1993-94.

 

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