ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2013 Deep NCAA tournament runs by West Liberty University\u2019s nationally-ranked men\u2019s basketball and football teams propelled the Hilltoppers to their highest finish ever in the 15th annual Learfield Sports NCAA Division II Director\u2019s Cup.<\/p>\n
The Learfield Sports Director\u2019s Cup was instituted in 1996 as a joint effort between the National Association of College Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and the USA Today. Points for the \u201call-sports trophy\u201d are awarded based on an institution\u2019s finish in NCAA Championship tournament competition in as many as 14 sports \u2013 7 men\u2019s and 7 women\u2019s \u2013 during the 2009-10 academic year.<\/p>\n
With six West Liberty teams earning NCAA postseason bids, the Hilltoppers accumulated 268 points to finish 69th out of the 287 NCAA Division II teams eligible for consideration.<\/p>\n
West Liberty\u2019s 268 points were the second-highest total for a West Virginia Conference school this year. Seton Hill finished 61st with a total of 287.5 points. It\u2019s the first time two WVIAC schools have ever cracked the top 70 in the same academic year. The Hilltoppers were the top-rated WVIAC team in the 2001-02, 2003-04 and 2006-07 academic years.<\/p>\n
The WLU football team was credited with a fifth-place finish after advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs last fall. That was worth 70 points in the Director\u2019s Cup scoring system.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s basketball team\u2019s trip to the \u201cSweet 16\u201d was worth 64 points while the wrestling team added 50 points to the West Liberty total by finishing in the Top 20 at the NCAA Division II championship meet.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s tennis team also earned 50 points by advancing to the Atlantic Region finals and the women\u2019s basketball team chipped in with 25 points by qualifying for the Atlantic Regional tournament. The men\u2019s golf team received 5 points as a combined East\/Atlantic Regional qualifier.<\/p>\n
Grand Valley (Mich.) State won its seventh consecutive NCAA Division II Director\u2019s Cup with ease as 16 Laker teams advanced to postseason play. Grand Valley\u2019s women\u2019s soccer team won a national championship while 10 other GVSU sports charted top 10 finishes on the NCAA Division II championship scene.<\/p>\n
A total of 233 NCAA Division II schools had at least one intercollegiate athletic team advance to NCAA postseason play during the 2009-10 academic year. West Liberty and Seton Hill were the only WVIAC schools to make the top 100.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2013 Deep NCAA tournament runs by West Liberty University\u2019s nationally-ranked men\u2019s basketball and football teams propelled the Hilltoppers to their highest finish ever in the 15th annual Learfield Sports NCAA Division II Director\u2019s Cup. The Learfield Sports Director\u2019s Cup was instituted in 1996 as a joint effort between the National Association of College […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-college"],"yoast_head":"\n