By WJBC Staff
BLOOMINGTON – Illinois Wesleyan University finished No. 34 in the final 2014-15 Division III Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Standings, as announced by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
Illinois Wesleyan finished with 429 points and amassed 174 points in the spring season, which were added to the 172 from the winter seasons and the 83 points from the fall seasons.
In the spring, IWU collected 80 points for a fourth place women’s outdoor track and field finish, 69 points for a ninth place finish in men’s golf national finish and 25 points for a 33rd place finish in softball.
In the winter, IWU had 172 points, collecting 85 points in a third place finish by the women’s indoor track team, 50 points with a 17th place finish in men’s basketball, 37 points with a 34th place finish in women’s swimming. The other 83 Illinois Wesleyan points came from the semifinal finish by the women’s soccer team last fall.
Repeating as winners and finishing with 1,053 total points, Williams College won its 18th Division III Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup of the 20 awarded since 1995-96. Finishing in second place was Johns Hopkins with 1016.75 total points, followed by MIT (961 points), Washington-St. Louis (944 points) and Amherst (918.50 points).
Also from the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, North Central was No. 24, Augustana was No. 39 and Wheaton was No. 45. Carthage finished No. 59, Elmhurst was No. 144, with Millikin and North Park tied for 279th.
All 12 spring Division III championships have been completed with the following institutions capturing titles: baseball and women’s lacrosse – SUNY Cortland; rowing – Bates; softball and men’s lacrosse – Tufts; women’s outdoor track & field – Wisconsin-La Crosse; men’s outdoor track & field – St. Augustine’s; women’s golf and women’s tennis – Williams; men’s golf – Methodist; men’s volleyball – Stevens; men’s tennis – Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution’s finish in up to 18 sports — nine women’s and nine men’s.
