Wheaton currently ranked 14th overall and second in New England in NCAA Division III Sears Directors' Cup standings

Wheaton College, which earned its highest final ranking in the NCAA Division III Sears Directors' Cup championship of 23rd a year ago, is currently ranked 14th overall and second in New England following the first set of winter standings. The program is presented by the nation's athletics directors.

The Lyons have posted 270 points, which is 16 points ahead of North Central College (IL) and a mere 1.5 points behind the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, a school that enrolls more than six times the number of students that attend Wheaton. The College of New Jersey, in second place at the end of the fall race, has taken over the lead with 463 points. Williams is second with 443.5 points, followed by the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse with 438 points, Ithaca College (NY) with 409.5 points and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh with 379 points. 

The Sears Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. It is administered by NACDA and sponsored by Sears, Roebuck and Co. These winter standings includes the sports of skiing, men's and women's indoor track & field and men's wrestling. The fall sports totals were based on the completion of men's and women's cross country, field hockey, football, men's and women's soccer and women's volleyball.

The Lyons collected several points from their men's and women's indoor track & field teams. The three-time defending national champion women's indoor track & field team succeeded to do what no other NCAA Division III women's program has done before; win an unprecedented fourth consecutive national title. The Lyons earned 65.5 points at the meet, which was just a half a point shy of the national meet record, while outscoring their closest competitor by 28.5 points. Wheaton also shattered four NCAA Division III national championship meet records in the 4x400-meter relay, 400-meter dash, long jump and triple jump. 

On the men's side, head coach Paul Souza and his squad enjoyed their most successful season in the program's history with a fourth-place mark overall at Ohio Northern University. The Lyons tallied 27 total points, just two points shy of picking up a share of a third place standing. As a team, Wheaton recorded a pair of national championships in the high and triple jump events and in the process earned All-American status in the 400-meter dash in addition to the listed field events. Combined, the Lyons were well represented, as they brought home the 2002 NCAA National Track & Field Athletes of the Year for the women and the 2002 NCAA National Field Athlete of the Year for the men. Not to mention Souza picked up his first USTCA National Coach-of-the-Year award.

Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 18 sports nine for the men and nine for the women. Each national champion receives 100 points. Current winter standings that are published mid-year are unofficial standings. Official standings will be published upon the completion of the spring season. Complete standings and the scoring structure can be found on NACDA's web site at www.nacda.com.