The fourth Top 25 finish for Hope College in the NCAA Division III all-sports standings caps a successful 2014-15 school year of competition.
Hope placed 22nd in the final Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings announced on Thursday, June 4, totaling 523 points for its place among 322 Division III schools who competed in NCAA Championship events. There are 450 Division III member schools.
It is the highest Directors’ Cup finish for Hope since a 20th-place effort during 2006-07 and a school-best, 12th-place finish in 2005-06. Hope was 23rd in 1997-98.
Hope has been ranked among the nation’s top 100 NCAA Division III programs every year since the program’s inception.
Hope recorded the top Directors’ Cup finish for a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association member institution.
A banner 2014-15 saw Hope student-athletes qualify to compete in 11 NCAA championship events, including nine women’s: basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field and volleyball. Coach Becky Schmidt’s volleyball team won the third team national title in school history.
Men’s cross country and men’s golf also were represented at NCAA championship competitions.
The final Directors’ Cup standings included Hope’s regional final appearance in softball and second-round appearance in women’s tennis.
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.
Hope’s place in the Directors’ Cup standings year-by-year are: 2014-15, 22nd; 2013-14, 29th; 2012-13, 64th; 2011-12, 43rd; 2010-11, 69th; 2009-10, 36th; 2008-09, 37th; 2007-08, 39th; 2006-07, 20th; 2005-06, 12th; 2004-05, 56th; 2003-04, 39th; 2002-03, 31st; 2001-02, 70th; 2000-01, 38th; 1999-00, 47th; 1998-99, 47th; 1997-98, 23rd; 1996-97, 46th; and 1995-96, 26th.