With the conclusion of the 2009-10, a familiar name emerges at the top of the athletic trophy hunt. For the 16th consecutive year, the Cardinal stay on top of the Director's Cup standings, this time besting Florida for the 2 spot, winning by a comfortable 200 points.
Stanford Athletics has claimed its unprecedented 16th consecutive Learfield Sports Directors' Cup today, an award that is presented annually by the National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors of America (NACDA), Learfield Sports and USA Today to the top intercollegiate athletic program in the nation.
Stanford finished with 1,508.50 points, outdistancing Florida (1,237.25) and Virginia (1,189.25) for the title.
After claiming national championships in the sports of men's volleyball, women's tennis and women's lightweight crew-varsity eight, Stanford has won at least one NCAA team title for 34 consecutive years, an ongoing record.
Six other Stanford teams - women's soccer, women's basketball, women's swimming, men's gymnastics, women's water polo and synchronized swimming -- placed second in national championship competition.
Twenty of Stanford's 35 intercollegiate programs finished their respective seasons ranked in the top-10 nationally, while nine teams were ranked first in the nation at some point during the year.
Cal continues its run of success at the top too, finishing 9th, their fifth straight finish in the top 10, a run that only Florida and Stanford have duplicated.
The Bears were also in the top five in women's swimming (3rd), men's gymnastics (5th) and women's volleyball (5th). In all, 17 programs contributed to Cal's total of 1,013.50 points.
Cal's top-10 run began in 2006 when the Bears placed seventh. The Bears were then ninth in 2007 and seventh in both 2008 and '09. Cal first achieved top-10 status in 2003 and 2004, taking ninth both years.
For 2009-10, the Bears are third among Pac-10 institutions behind No. 1 Stanford and No. 4 UCLA. Other conference schools in the top 30 are USC (13th), Oregon (14th), Arizona State (22nd), Washington (24th) and Arizona (30th).
Of course, if they would count rugby, the Bears would be much much higher, but oh well, take what you can get.
Loading comments...