The Aurora University Athletic Department finished the 2018-2019 academic year, a year that saw the Spartans finish with the second highest finish ever in the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup Division III standings. The Spartans finished 61st 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. Once again, AU was the top Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference school in the final Learfield Sports Directors' Cup Division III standings. 

Complete 2018-2019 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup Standings

The Spartans were represented by women's volleyball with 73 points following the programs first NCAA Division III Championship finals appearance which placed the Spartans 69th through the fall rankings. In the winter, AU added points with indoor men's and women's track and field and men's basketball in the NCAA Division III Championships, which accounted for 74 points in the winter rankings. Through the first two standings, AU placed 72nd with the 147 points. In the spring, AU exploded to earn 152 points through the participation of the women's golf, men's golf, baseball and men and women's track and field at NCAA Division III Championship events.  
 
"Our final Learfield Cup ranking is a testament to the hard work and effort put forth by our student-athletes, coaches and staff on a daily basis," said AU Director of Athletics Jim Hamad. "We had a very good year and continue with our aggressive plan to 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. I am proud of what we have accomplished and even more excited for the bright future of AU athletics."

The 2018-2019 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 and 2017-2018 years for most teams represented at the NCAA Championship level and the five team appearances ties a mark set in the 2009-2010 and 2017-2018 campaigns. AU had six teams (women's golf, women's volleyball, women's indoor track and field, men's golf, men's outdoor track and field and women's outdoor track and field) win conference championships while baseball and men's basketball won a conference tournament title and a bid to the NCAA tournament. 

For the seventh consecutive year, AU led the way among Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) programs and was the only program to finish in the top 75 with 299 points. Concordia University Chicago had 124.50 points in a distant 163rd place, Dominican University had 75.00 points in 216th place, followed by Milwaukee School of Engineering (230th with 62.50 points), Concordia University Wisconsin and Wisconsin Lutheran College (245th with 50.0 points), Benedictine University (46.50 points in 271st place) and Edgewood College and Illinois Institute of Technology (291st place with 25.0 points).
 
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), 2017-2018 (75th place with 258.0 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.