Wheaton moved up 29 spots from the fall to complete the 2006-07 winter season 38th in the NCAA Division III United States Sports Academy Directors’ Cup standings.

April 19, 2007

Wheaton College moved up 29 spots from the fall to complete the 2006-07 winter season 38th in the NCAA Division III United States Sports Academy Directors' Cup standings. The Lyons are ranked eighth in New England and are tops among all New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) schools. The institution finished 35th last academic year, and this year's final rankings will be revealed after the spring season. The program is presented by the nation's athletics directors.

Wheaton's point total of 241 is 7.5 points ahead of its nearest competitor, 39th-ranked Trinity University (Texas), while closely following the 34th- through 37th-place schools. Wesleyan University has 248.125 points, University of California at Santa Cruz is next with 247.5, DePauw University (Ind.) has 247 and Bowdoin College is one spot above Wheaton with 246.5 points. Only one other NEWMAC school is among the top 50, as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) stands 49th.

Williams College, which won 10 of the first 11 cups, moved up from sixth place after the fall to first place with 704.5 points after earning points in eight different sports at NCAA Championships, including a first-place showing in women's indoor track and field. Middlebury College is second with 664.5 points after its men's and women's ice hockey teams each finished as the national runner up. Washington University (Mo.), Amherst College and New York University round out the top five with 628.5, 602.25 and 532.5 points, respectively.

The United States Sports Academy Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. NACDA administers the program and the United States Sports Academy, based in Daphne, Alabama, is in its fourth year sponsoring the program. Winter standings are based on the completion of men's and women's basketball, fencing, men's and women's ice hockey, skiing, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's indoor track and field, and men's wrestling.

After a pair of soccer teams tallied all of Wheaton's fall points, the Lyons were boosted by their men's and women's indoor track and field teams and men's swimming and diving squad scoring at the NCAA Championship for each sport. A five-time national champion, the women's indoor track and field team picked up 69 points after five athletes scored during a ninth-place finish. On the men's side, Wheaton notched 52 points by placing 22nd as a duo combined for all of the Lyons' points.

For the third straight season, the men's swimming and diving team scored points at the NCAA Championship due solely to the efforts of senior Barrett Roberts (Portland, ME/Deering), the lone athlete in the program's history to appear at the national meet. Roberts scored in two events, bringing the Lyons a 29th-place team finish and 45 points in the NACDA Cup standings.

Cup 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. Winter standings that are published mid-year are unofficial, as 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.