The Aurora University Athletic Department finished the 2017-2018 academic year as the top Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference school in the final Learfield Sports Directors' Cup Division III standings for yet another season. The Spartans finished 75th out of more than 420 Division III athletic programs around the United States. The Learfield Sports Directors' Cup is a comprehensive ranking of intercollegiate athletic departments based on their participation in NCAA Championship events.
Complete 2017-2018 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup Standings
The Spartans were represented by women's volleyball with 25 points for the programs first NCAA Division III Championship appearance which placed the Spartans 125th through the fall rankings. In the winter, AU started to blossom with an individual indoor men's track and field competitor and the men's basketball appearance in the NCAA Division III Championships, which accounted for 73 points in the Winter Directors' Cup Standings. Through the first two standings, AU placed 112th with the 98 points. In the spring NCAA Championship season, AU exploded to earn 160 points from the participation of the men's lacrosse, men's golf, baseball and men and women's track and field at Division III Championship events.
"The hard work and effort put forth by our student-athletes, coaches and staff on a daily basis is shown in our final ranking in the Learfield Cup," said AU Director of Athletics
Jim Hamad. "We had a very good year with an AU record tying amount of teams reaching the NCAA Championships. We plan to continue to reach and succeed in post-season competitions. We strive to offer an exemplary experience for our student-athletes and post-season play is an integral component of meeting that goal."
The 2017-2018 season saw AU have nine programs have teams or individuals compete at the NCAA Division III Championship level. The nine teams ties a mark set in the 2014-2015 year for most teams represented at the NCAA Championship level and the five team appearances ties a mark set in the 2009-2010 campaign. AU had seven teams (men's cross country, men's basketball, women's indoor track and field, men's lacrosse, men's golf, men's outdoor track and field and women's outdoor track and field) win conference championships while baseball won a conference tournament title and women's volleyball received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
For the sixth consecutive year, AU led the way among Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) programs and was the only program to finish in the top 100 with 258 points. Benedictine University finished second among NACC schools with 178.50 points in 112th place, Dominican University was third with 133.00 points in 144th place, Concordia University Chicago had 210.50 points in 157th place, Concordia University Wisconsin finished in 185th place with 80.00 points, Milwaukee School of Engineering was 269th with 39.00 points, Lakeland University, Marian University and Wisconsin Lutheran College finished with 25 points in 281st place.
The previous best finishes for the AU sport programs came in 2014-2015 (50th with 329.10 points), 2016-2017 (68th place with 289.75 points), 2015-2016 (78th place with 201.25 points), 1997-1998 (94th with 70 points), 2004-2005 (96th with 164 points) and 2009-2010 (102nd with 185.5 points). AU finished the 2013-2014 season in 163rd place with 115 points.
The Learfield 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 in Division III -- nine women's and nine men's.
