CLEVELAND, Ohio – St. Olaf College is in 26th place and leads all Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) institutions in the final fall Learfield Directors' Cup standings in NCAA Division III as announced by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) last week.
St. Olaf earned 184.0 points in the fall standings thanks to top-20 national finishes from men's soccer, men's cross country, and women's cross country. The 184.0 points are the most of any MIAC institution and were good for 26th of the 177 teams receiving points.
Johns Hopkins sits atop the standings with 471.0 points after earning points in seven of the eight sports, including a national championship in women's cross country and a runner-up finish in field hockey. Middlebury (397.5), Tufts (330.5), UChicago (320.5), and Calvin (308.0) round out the top five. Among other MIAC institutions, Carleton is tied for 69th (78.0), Bethel is tied for 72nd (75.0), Saint John's is tied for 91st (53.0), and Gustavus and St. Catherine are both tied for 97th (50.0).
This fall, St. Olaf picked up 64.0 points from men's soccer's Sweet 16 appearance, 63.0 points from women's cross country's 13th-place finish at the NCAA Championships, and 57.0 points from men's cross country's 17th-place showing at the national meet.
St. Olaf's tally of 184.0 points is its highest total for the fall season since 2015-16 when the Oles compiled 191.0 points on the strength of a fourth-place finish in men's cross country, a Sweet 16 appearance in men's soccer, and a 27th-place finish in women's cross country. That year was also the last time St. Olaf recorded the highest point total among MIAC institutions in the fall season.
The Oles posted their highest-ever finish in the Learfield Directors' Cup by finishing 19th in 1999-00 and also posted a top-20 finish in the first year of the program by placing 20th in 1995-96. St. Olaf has 12 top-50 finishes in the program's 24 years. The Directors' Cup did not take place during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Learfield Directors' Cup is a program that honors institutions maintaining a broad-based program, awarding points based on each institution's national finish in the NCAA Championships. The program was started in 1993-94 by NACDA and
USA Today and expanded to include NCAA Division II, III, and the NAIA in 1995-96.
St. Olaf Learfield Directors' Cup Finishes
| Academic Year |
Place |
Points |
| 2020-21 |
Directors' Cup Canceled |
N/A |
| 2019-20 |
Directors' Cup Canceled |
N/A |
| 2018-19 |
120th |
156.0 |
| 2017-18 |
152nd |
124.5 |
| 2016-17 |
126th |
158.0 |
| 2015-16 |
36th |
447.0 |
| 2014-15 |
35th |
427.5 |
| 2013-14 |
31st |
423.0 |
| 2012-13 |
45th |
351.25 |
| 2011-12 |
41st |
382.5 |
| 2010-11 |
75th |
231.5 |
| 2009-10 |
T-70th |
238.5 |
| 2008-09 |
85th |
212.0 |
| 2007-08 |
132nd |
147.0 |
| 2006-07 |
95th |
190.5 |
| 2005-06 |
91st |
170.0 |
| 2004-05 |
T-91st |
170.0 |
| 2003-04 |
116th |
130.0 |
| 2002-03 |
37th |
294.5 |
| 2001-02 |
37th |
298.0 |
| 2000-01 |
33rd |
323.0 |
| 1999-00 |
19th |
385.5 |
| 1998-99 |
T-45th |
140.0 |
| 1997-98 |
T-66th |
100.0 |
| 1996-97 |
26th |
296.5 |
| 1995-96 |
20th |
336.5 |
