The South Atlantic Conference Places Two Schools in the Top 15 and 11 Total Schools on the 2016-17 Final Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Standings
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – At the end of the 2016-17 season, The South Atlantic Conference posted a pair of schools in the top 15 and 11 total member institutions in the Learfield Directors' Cup 2016-17 standings. The Learfield Sports Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 14 sports -- seven women's and seven men's at the NCAA Championships.
Queens came in at No. 5 in the standings with 618 points, while Wingate closed the year out at No. 12 with 537 points.
Lincoln Memorial posted 244 points to place at No. 81, ahead of Carson-Newman, who recorded 233.50 points to come in at No. 85. Newberry finished at No. 138 with 145.25 points, while Lenoir-Rhyne collected 125 points to place at No. 154. Anderson's 74.50 points was good for the No. 197 slot, followed by Catawba at 198 with 74 points. Tusculum grabbed 50 points to place at No. 271, as Mars Hill (45 points, 237) and Coker (33 points, 246) rounded out the list for the SAC.
Fall Points:
Wingate won the 2016 Division II Men's Soccer Championship and picked up 100 points, while the Bulldogs also collected 44 points as it finished at No. 30 in the nation in women's cross country. Wingate also collected 25 points as it advanced to the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship.
Queens placed ninth in the country in women's volleyball to earn 64 points. The Royals' women's cross country team picked up 60 points for its 15th place finish at nationals, while the men finished 31st to earn 43 points.
The Lenoir-Rhyne men's soccer team advanced to the second round of the NCAA D-II Men's Soccer Championship to place 17th in the nation and earn 50 points. The women's soccer squad advanced to the NCAA D-II Women's Soccer Championship to earn 25 points.
Carson-Newman women's soccer team finished at No. 17 in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship to earn 50 points. Mars Hill's men's cross country team placed 29th at nationals to earn 45 points, while Anderson's women's cross country team placed 33rd to earn 32 points.
Lincoln Memorial advanced to the 2016 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship to collect 25 points and Tusculum's men's soccer team earned a spot in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship and notched 25 points. Newberry's berth to the 2016 NCAA Division II Football Championship earned the Wolves 25 points.
Winter Points:
Wingate picked up points from basketball as the Bulldog women earned 50 points and the Bulldog men added 25 points. In the pool, Wingate collected 85 points from the women and 72 points from the men. The Wingate women's indoor track team picked up 48 points, while the men's team chipped in 49 points.
Queens swept the men's and women's swimming national championships to collect 200 points between the two squads. The Royals' men's basketball team threw in 65 points and the women's indoor track and field team notched 61.5 points.
Lincoln Memorial's men's basketball squad advanced to its second-straight Final Four to add 83 points, while the Lady Railsplitters advanced to the Southeast Region Final on the hardwood to add 64 points.
Carson-Newman received 57 points from its women's swimming team to go along with 22 from the men in the pool.
Newberry garnered 47.5 points in wrestling, while the Anderson women's basketball team collected 25 points. Catawba's men's swimming team picked up 10 points at the NCAA Championship.
Spring Points:
Queens finished 5th in the nation in women's lacrosse to pick up 60 points, while its men's tennis and women's track teams garnered 25 points and 40.5 points, respectively.
The Bulldog men's lacrosse team came in at No. 5 in the country to pick up 25 points. The Wingate men's track team chipped in 14 points as well.
Lincoln Memorial picked up 50 points on the baseball diamond as the Railsplitters came in at No. 17 in the country. The LMU men's golf team added 22 points to the total.
Carson-Newman received 38 points from its men's golf team, 25 points from softball and 41.5 points from its men's track program.
The Newberry men's golf team advanced to the match-play portion of the NCAA men's golf championship to place No. 5 in the nation and garner 72.75 points.
Lenoir-Rhyne's men's lacrosse squad finished at No. 5 in the country to notch 25 points, while its softball team collected 25 points.
Catawba advanced to the regional final in baseball to place No. 9 in Division II and grab 64 points, while Anderson's track team posted 17.5 points to the Trojans' total.
Tusculum got 25 points from its women's tennis team as Coker received five points from men's golf and 28 points from the Cobras' women's track and field squad.