Salisbury earns highest fall standing in Directors' Cup, ranked fifth in nation

CLEVELAND – With all seven fall sports competing in NCAA postseason play for just the second time in school history, the Salisbury University athletics program sits right near the top of the Division III Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings through the fall season.

The Sea Gulls earned 240 points, and are ranked fifth in the nation. Both numbers are the highest through the fall season for Salisbury in the 17-year history of the standings, just ahead of fall 2004 when Salisbury was ranked sixth with 233 points.

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 18 sports – nine women’s and nine men’s.

Salisbury earned 70 points for the quarterfinal appearance by both the field hockey and football teams this season, 50 points for the volleyball team advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament and 33 points for both the men’s and women’s soccer teams, which each qualified for the first round of their national tournaments.

Salisbury’s top finish at the end of an academic year was a ninth-place standing at the end of the 2009-10 season.

To see the national standings click here.