Wellesley Athletics Earns Program Best Finish in Directors' Cup Standings
Click Here to View the Final Standings
WELLESLEY, Mass. — Wellesley College Athletics amassed a total of 286.00 points to finish in 63rd place overall in the 2014-15 Division III Directors’ Cup Standings. The highest-ranking all-women’s institution in the nation, Wellesley also earned the program’s highest finish in the 20-year history of the Directors’ Cup.
‘The crowning achievement in college athletics,’ the Learfield Directors’ Cup is a program that honors institutions maintaining a broad-based program, achieving success in many sports. Began in 1993-94 for Division I by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today, it was expanded in 1995-96 to include Division II, III and the NAIA. Each institution is awarded points in a pre-determined number of sports for men and women. The overall champion is the institution that records the highest number of points in their division’s Directors’ Cup standings. Among New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) institutions, the Blue trailed only MIT (3rd) and Springfield (36th).
Wellesley climbed as high as 40th overall in the Directors’ Cup Standings following an outstanding fall season that saw both the field hockey and cross country programs reach the NCAA Championships. Field hockey earned 70 points after advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight and winning the NEWMAC Championships for the second consecutive season. Cross Country earned an additional 52 points thanks to an historic fall that included a runner-up finish at the NEWMAC Championships, a top-five performance at NCAA Regionals and the program’s first trip to the NCAA Championships since 1986.
Wellesley earned 54 points during the winter season, spurred by NCAA Division III 3-meter diving National Champion and Division III National Diver of the Year Maura Sticco-Ivins’ performance at the NCAA Championships. Sticco-Ivins also took home national runner-up honors on the 1-meter board, and her two-event point total earned Wellesley 20th place overall at the Championships.
A pair of conference championships from the softball and crew programs highlighted the spring, as both programs made NCAA Championship appearance to help the Blue earn an additional 110 points. Softball earned 25 points, finishing in fifth place during the regular season before making an incredible run to its second-straight NEWMAC Tournament Championship. Blue Crew claimed its fifth straight NEWMAC title before advancing to the NCAA Championships and earning third-place in the nation. Wellesley Crew’s third-place finish tied the programs best finish ever and earned 85 more points in the Directors’ Cup standings.
Wellesley also saw three members of the track & field make an appearance at the NCAA Championships this spring. First year Abena Asare (Berlin, N.J.) took ninth in the long jump, while junior Priyanka Fouda (Wellesley, Mass.) and sophomore Mary Keenan (Boerne, Texas) finished in ninth and tenth, respectively, in the 5,000m run.