Thanks to the strong seasons of its cross country teams, the Lewis-Clark State College athletic program is currently in third place overall in the 2011-12 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup 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 12 sports – six women’s and six men’s.
Thus far, with only the men’s and women’s cross country seasons having come to a close, the Warriors are sitting with 137 points. The LCSC men finished 4th at nationals to earn 80 points, while the women took 11th to earn 57 points.
National title winners receive 100 points, and second place finishers receive 90, thus Cal State San Marcos currently sits in first place in the standings with a total of 190 points. The Cougars accumulated their point total by taking home the women’s cross country title and finishing second in men’s cross country.
British Columbia trails the Cougars by just 33 points after a third place finish in women’s cross country and a sixth place result in men’s cross country, resulting in 157 total points.
In the past, point totals for the year were based on up to 14 sports, seven women’s and seven men’s, and because LCSC has just 11 official sports total the chance of the Warriors staying high in the standings was slim.
A strong finish for the LCSC volleyball team at nationals this weekend could help the Warriors remain in the top tier.
The next NAIA standings will be released on Dec. 15.
Dec. 1, 2011 Standings - top 25
|
Rank
|
Institution
|
Conference
|
Total
|
|
1
|
Cal State San Marcos
|
Independent
|
190.00
|
|
2
|
British Columbia (Can.)
|
Independent
|
157.00
|
|
3
|
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)
|
Frontier
|
137.00
|
|
4
|
Master's (Calif.)
|
Golden State
|
120.00
|
|
5
|
Friends (Kans.)
|
Kansas Collegiate
|
117.00
|
|
6
|
Wayland Baptist (Tex.)
|
Sooner
|
111.00
|
|
7
|
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)
|
Chicagoland
|
106.00
|
|
8
|
Concordia (Ore.)
|
Cascade
|
102.00
|
|
9
|
Oklahoma Christian
|
Sooner
|
100.00
|
|
10
|
Idaho, College of
|
Cascade
|
99.00
|
|
11
|
Westmont (Calif.)
|
Golden State
|
96.00
|
|
12
|
Shawnee State (Ohio)
|
Mid-South
|
95.00
|
|
13
|
Azusa Pacific (Calif.)
|
Golden State
|
90.00
|
|
14
|
Shorter (Ga.)
|
Southern States
|
88.00
|
|
15
|
Southern Oregon
|
Cascade
|
85.00
|
|
16
|
Aquinas (Mich.)
|
Wolverine-Hoosier
|
84.00
|
|
17
|
Northwest Christian (Ore.)
|
Cascade
|
80.00
|
|
18
|
Biola (Calif.)
|
Golden State
|
76.00
|
|
19
|
Oklahoma Baptist
|
Sooner
|
69.00
|
|
20
|
Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.)
|
American Mideast
|
63.00
|
|
21
|
Park (Mo.)
|
American Midwest
|
60.00
|
|
22
|
Bryan (Tenn.)
|
Appalachian
|
57.00
|
|
23
|
Carroll (Mont.)
|
Frontier
|
51.00
|
|
23
|
St. Francis (Ill.)
|
Chicagoland
|
51.00
|
|
25
|
Milligan (Tenn.)
|
Appalachian
|
45.00
|
