Morningside finished ninth in the final 2017-18 NAIA Learfield Directors’ Cup standings.

Morningside College finished ninth in the final 2017-18 NAIA Learfield Directors’ Cup standings.

Morningside scored 645.5 points over the fall, winter and spring sports seasons. Points are based on a team’s finish at the NAIA National Championship events.

Morningside scored 57 points with a 16th place in women’s track & field and 21.5 points with a 50th place finish in men’s track & field at this spring’s NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships.

The Mustangs were in fourth place with 567 points following the competition of the fall and winter sports seasons.

The Mustangs’ fall scoring included 83 points for a third place finish in football and 64 points for a ninth place finish in women’s volleyball.

The Mustangs’ winter sports scoring included 73 points for a fifth place finish in competitive dance, 70 points for a fifth place finish in men’s basketball, 53 points for a ninth place finish in women’s basketball, 48 points for a 14th place finish in men’s swimming & diving, 47 points for a 27th place finish in women’s indoor track & field, 44 points for a 29th place finish in men’s indoor track & field, 43 points for a 31st place finish in wrestling and 42 points for a 16th place finish in women’s swimming & diving.

Morningside is one of six schools from the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) that finished in the NAIA Top 50. Aside from Morningside, Northwestern College is seventh with 662.5 points, Hastings College is 11th with 624.5 points, Midland University is 23rd with 470.5 points, Concordia University is 45th with 308.25 points and Dordt College is 50th with 284.5 points. 

Oklahoma City University captured the 2017-18 NAIA Learfield Director’s Cup with 847.75 points to win the title for the second year in a row. The Stars won by a slim 1.75-point margin over Lindsey Wilson College, which finished second with 846.0 points. The rest of the top 10 includes Wayland Baptist University in third place with 814 points, Keiser University in fourth with 779.25 points, Indiana Wesleyan University in fifth with 686.75 points, Westmont College in sixth with 666.5 points, Northwestern in seventh with 662.5 points, Indiana Tech University in eighth with 654.5 points, Morningside in ninth with 645.5 points and William Carey University in 10th with 643 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 13 sports. Men’s and women’s basketball, women’s volleyball and men’s soccer are the four sports that must be counted for each institution. Additionally, up to nine other scores may be counted, regardless of gender, in the final score.

Complete standings and the scoring structure can be found on the NACDA’s website at www.directorscup.org.