Michigan finishes third in Learfield Director’s Cup

Published 9:24 am Tuesday, July 5, 2016

ANN ARBOR — The University of Michigan Athletic Department finished third in the 2015-16 Division I Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup, totaling 1,196.75 points for its highest finish since also finishing third during the 2007-08 year.

Michigan now has 12 top-five finishes in the Directors’ Cup and has placed in the top 15 of the standings in 20 of the award’s 23 seasons, including a runner-up finish in 2003-04 and third-place finishes in 1999-2000, 2007-08 and again this year.

Stanford won the title with 1,526.5 points, while Ohio State (1,306), Michigan, (1,196.75), USC (1,196.25) and Florida (1,177) rounded out the top five.

The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup developed as a joint effort between NACDA and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution’s finish in up to 20 sports — 10 women’s and 10 men’s.

The Wolverines recorded top-10 finishes in the Directors’ Cup standings in 12 sports: women’s cross country (6), men’s cross country (9), field hockey (5), men’s gymnastics (7), ice hockey (5), women’s swimming and diving (10), women’s indoor track and field (6), wrestling (9), women’s rowing (10), softball (5), water polo (4), and women’s tennis (5) in addition to eight other top-25 finishes.

At the Big Ten level, Michigan led the conference in championships with eight: women’s outdoor track and field, softball, men’s cross country, women’s gymnastics, women’s swimming and diving, men’s swimming and diving, women’s indoor track and field and water polo (CWPA). Michigan also won the Big Ten ice hockey tournament title and led the conference with an average team finish of 3.75 across all sports.

A total of 47 student-athletes earned first-team All-America honors during the year with a total of 66 All-America selections in all. Michigan had 71 student-athletes earn All-Big Ten first team honors with 35 student-athletes winning individual conference titles.

A total of 276 student-athletes were named Academic All-Big Ten Conference co