GRANVILLE, Ohio (June 16, 2022) – Denison University placed 35th out of 326 NCAA Division III institutions in the final 2021-22 Learfield Division III Directors' Cup standings, marking the college's 12th top-40 finish since 2004 and its best finish since 2015-16 (25th).
The Learfield Directors' Cup is given annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). Points for the Directors' Cup is based on the order of finish in NCAA sponsored championships with the goal of identifying the top overall athletics department in the nation.
Denison totaled 487 points in this year's Director's Cup standings as eight Big Red athletics teams contributed to the total scoring. Denison collected 292 points in the Spring season (women's lacrosse, men's lacrosse, men's tennis, women's tennis, baseball), 170 points in the Winter season (women's swimming & diving, men's swimming & diving) and 25 points in the Fall season (men's soccer).
Women's Swimming & Diving (Third place, 85 points): Denison finished in
third place at the NCAA Division III Championship. It was the program's 13th straight trip to the podium (top-four) and 34th straight top-seven national finish. Denison earned one national championship and had 29 All-American performances and 20 top-eight finishes overall. Denison sent 18 individuals (17 swimmers, 1 diver) to nationals and entered the championship ranked No. 3.
Men's Swimming & Diving (Third place, 85 points): Denison finished in
third place at the NCAA Division III Championship after accumulating 30 All-American swims and 14 top-eight finishes. It was the 15th consecutive top-three national finish in program history after the Big Red sent 16 individuals (14 swimmers, 2 divers) to nationals and entered the championship ranked No. 4.
Women's Lacrosse (Ninth place, 64 points): The Big Red received an at-large bid to the 2022 NCAA Division III Tournament and earned a big
13-12 overtime victory over No. 14-ranked Catholic University on their home turf inside Deeds Field-Piper Stadium during the second round of the tournament.
Men's Lacrosse (Ninth place, 64 points): For the 26th time in program history and for the sixth time in a row, Denison men's lacrosse competed in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament, earning a
14-13 win over Grove City College in the second round.
Men's Tennis (Ninth place, 64 points): The Big Red then won their second-round matchup at the 2022 NCAA Division III Tournament in St. Louis, Missouri, by
defeating Sewanee by a final score of 5-2 . The win for Denison sent the Big Red into the Sweet Sixteen and set a new program record for wins in a single season (23). Making their second straight national tournament appearance after a 15-year absence before that, the Big Red earned their second win in program history at the national tournament, and their first win since defeating Illinois Wesleyan University 4-0 in the first round in 1997. After ranking as high as No. 10 in the country entering the national tournament, the Big Red finished the season with a national ranking of No. 12.
Women's Tennis (17th place, 50 points): The Big Red won their first-round matchup at the 2022 NCAA Division III Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio, by
blanking the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg by a final score of 6-0. It was Denison's 21st NCAA Tournament victory in program history.
Baseball (17th place, 50 points): Denison finished its 2022 season with the second-most wins in program history (35) while also hosting an NCAA Regional for the first time in program history. This season marked Denison's fourth consecutive NCAA Regional berth. During the second round of the Granville Regional against No. 7 nationally-ranked and defending NCAA Division III National Championship Salisbury University, the Big Red
earned a 2-0 shutout victory that sent them to the regional championship for the second year in a row.
Men's Soccer (33rd place, 25 points): The Big Red advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009 and for the 10th time in program history, but
fell 1-0 against Covenant College in the first round.
Denison led all NCAC institutions in the Learfield Directors Cup standings, and was also the
NCAC's All-Sports Champion for a record 18th time.
Additionally, 36 Denison student-athletes achieved All-American status and two received CoSIDA Academic All-America accolades, running Denison's total of Academic All-America selections to 108.
2021-22 Denison Athletic Accomplishments by the Numbers:
- 18: Denison won its league leading eighteenth North Coast Athletic Conference All-Sports Championship in 2021-22 (The total of 190.5 points in 2021-22 by the Big Red is an all-time conference record, blowing away the previous record of 179 points that was set by Denison more than two decades ago in 1999-2000)
- 8: Eight NCAC Championships (VB, WSOC, MSWIM, WGOLF, MTEN, WTEN, MLAX, BASE)
- 3: Three NCAC Tournament Championships (MSOC, MLAX, BASE)
- 5: Five NCAC Coaches of the Year
- 3: Three Regional Coaching Awards
- 19: Nineteen NCAC Athlete of the Year awards
- 8: Eight Team National Tournament Appearances
- 4: Four Individual National Qualifiers
- 30: Thirty Individual Conference Champions
- 1: One Individual National Champion
- 36: Thirty-six unique All-Americans
Official Release
Final Division III Standings
Division III Conference Standings
