The athletics program is number two in the Sears Directors' Cup.

by Mike Warwick

A national championship in softball. A spot in the men's lacrosse semifinals. A trip to the football quarterfinals. Top-10 finishes for five other sports. NCAA playoff trips for eight more teams.

Add it all up, and it comes out to a second-place finish in this year's Sears Directors' Cup standings --- Ithaca's highest finish in the seven years of the competition. The Sears Directors' Cup standings are determined by a school's finish in NCAA playoff competition in each sport. The Bombers had finished fifth in last year's final standings.

"The Sears Directors' Cup ranking represents a school's success across its entire athletics program," says director of intercollegiate athletics Kristen Ford. "Our success this year occurred because of the dedication of our athletes and staff, which resulted in many of our teams' advancing in the NCAA tournaments. Their commitment to supporting each other and developing teamwork --- necessary for a program to achieve success --- was evident as we pursued our quest for national championships."

President Peggy R. Williams was equally pleased. "While the achievements of our athletes are sometimes taken for granted," she says, "their contributions are a valued component of the overall Ithaca College experience. This acknowledgment is well deserved, and we look forward to celebrating continued success in the year ahead."

Ithaca finished with 852 points, ahead of third-place College of New Jersey and trailing only Williams College, which has won six of the seven Sears Directors' Cups. A total of 251 of the 396 Division III institutions scored points in the Sears standings.

Ithaca received points for postseason appearances by men's and women's cross-country, football, volleyball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's indoor track and field, wrestling, baseball, women's crew, men's lacrosse, softball, and women's outdoor track and field. The softball team won the national championship (ICQ, 2001/2), and the Bombers turned in top-10 finishes in men's lacrosse (tied for third), women's rowing (tied for third), football (tied for fifth), wrestling (sixth), men's cross-country (ninth), baseball (tied for ninth), and volleyball (tied for ninth).

Ithaca is one of only 10 schools to place in the top 25 in the previous six years of the Sears Directors' Cup. The Bombers placed 16th in the first year (1995 - 96), 6th the following year, 18th in 1997 - 98, 17th in 1998 - 99, and 21st in 1999 - 2000. "I am most proud," says Ford, "of our having such a strong national presence while maintaining focus on the process by which we attain this success: we challenge the athletes both academically and athletically while also encouraging them to get involved in the campus community and the local Ithaca community."

Developed as a joint effort between USA Today and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, the Sears Directors' Cup program is the only all-sports competition that recognizes the institution with the best overall athletics program in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III and in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The Sears Directors' Cup is part of the Sears Collegiate Champions program, which annually awards more than 2,200 conference and sport champion trophies and a quarter-million dollars in academic scholarships.

Sears Cup photo courtesy of NACDA