Stanford was awarded the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup last Tuesday, marking the 18th consecutive year that Stanford has received the accolade. The Directors’ Cup, presented by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, is given annually to the top overall college athletics program in the nation.

The Cardinal has won the cup every year except for the award’s inaugural season, 1993-1994, when Stanford finished second to the University of North Carolina.

The award takes into account a school’s top ten men’s and top ten women’s sports performances. In the point standings, Stanford led with 1,448.25 points, well ahead of runner-up Florida (1,314) and third-place finisher UCLA (1,142.75). Ohio State (1,104.25) and Florida State (1,061) finished fourth and fifth, respectively. The cup rankings are based on the aggregated points from the fall, winter and spring sports seasons. The Cardinal was atop the standings for all three seasons.

The Pac-12 as a whole had a strong showing, as three schools from the conference were in the top 10 and six schools were among the top 25.

The Cardinal’s dominance was paced by national titles in three sports: women’s soccer, women’s water polo and women’s lightweight rowing eights. The three national team championships this season extended Stanford’s record of consecutive seasons with at least one national team title to 36. Stanford currently has 103 NCAA team championships, second in the nation behind UCLA’s 108.

Out of Stanford’s 35 total sports programs, 17 finished their seasons this year with a top-10 national ranking.

The trophy presentation for the 2011-2012 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup took place last Tuesday in Dallas, Texas.

            –George Chen