Tufts finishes 15th in final Directors' Cup rankings for 2007-08 year

After finishing the winter season 12th in the United States Sports Academy's Div. III Directors' Cup standings, Tufts slipped to 15th in the year-end rankings released on June 11.

An annual competition between Div. III schools to measure the achievements of athletics teams, the Directors' Cup awards points to programs based on rankings and post-season performances.

The Jumbos added 183.5 points during the spring season, down from the record 271.5 points notched up during the winter season, to bring the overall tally to 580. Still, the year-end ranking marked a slight improvement from the ‘06-'07 result, when the school finished 16th. Tufts' highest ranking ever came two years ago when the Jumbos attained the sixth overall spot.

Tufts earned points for four different squads during the spring: softball, women's tennis, and both women's and men's outdoor track and field. Diver Kendall Swett (LA ‘08), the Daily's reigning female athlete of the year, earned points by winning national championships in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives.

The NESCAC was well represented at the top of the Directors' Cup standings, as the conference laid claim to five of the top 25 spots. Williams won the Directors' Cup for the 10th consecutive season with 1120.25 points, 221.25 points ahead of second-place Washington University in St. Louis. The top five included two other NESCAC schools: Amherst (fourth, 815 points) and Middlebury (fifth, 813.5).

This fall, Tufts' teams, including last fall's point-earners — the men's cross country, women's soccer and field hockey teams — will try to build upon the program's spring finish and vault the school off to a hot start in pursuit of Directors' Cup glory.