June 26, 2012

STANFORD, Calif. -- - Stanford Athletics has claimed its unprecedented 18th consecutive Learfield Sports Directors' Cup today, an award that is presented annually by the National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors of America (NACDA) and Learfield Sports to the top intercollegiate athletic program in the nation.

Stanford finished with 1384.25 points, outdistancing Florida (1241.00) and Ohio State (1104.25) for its 18th straight title. UCLA (4th; 1,064.75) and Texas (5th; 1032.50) round out the top-five.

After claiming national championships in the sports of women's soccer, women's water polo and women's lightweight I eight, Stanford has won at least one NCAA team title for 36 consecutive years, an ongoing record. Stanford has now won 103 NCAA team titles, the second-highest total among all NCAA institutions.

Seventeen of Stanford's 35 intercollegiate programs finished their respective seasons ranked in the top-10 nationally, while seven teams were ranked first in the nation at some point during the year.

In addition, six Stanford student-athletes - Mark Appel (baseball), Nicole Gibbs (women's tennis), Andrew Luck (football), Kiley Neushul (women's water polo), Teresa Noyola (women's soccer) and Lindsay Taylor (women's soccer) - earned national players of the year in their respective sports. Gibbs and Mallory Burdette were named ITA Doubles Team of the Year.

Four Stanford coaches - Al Acosta (women's lightweight rowing), Paul Ratcliffe (women's soccer), David Shaw (football) and John Tanner (women's water polo) - earned national coach of the year honors.

Stanford's student-athletes also continue to display an unwavering commitment to academic excellence, as nine earned first team academic All-America status as recognized by the College Sports Information Directors of America. In addition, five student-athletes garnered NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships.

All 35 programs exceeded the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate (APR) standards while seven Cardinal teams earned perfect scores of 1,000.

The Learfield Sports Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors of America (NACDA) and the USA Today in 1993-94 in an effort to honor universities that strive for success in all of their sports programs. The program was expanded in 1995-96 to include Division II, III and the NAIA. Each institution is awarded points based on an institutions' finish in 20 sports -- 10 each for men and women.

About Learfield Sports: The 2011-12 athletics season marks its fourth year as title partner of the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup. A preeminent leader in the collegiate sports marketplace for nearly four decades, Learfield Sports manages the multimedia rights for more than 50 collegiate properties, including flagship Mizzou, which it has represented since 1975. An operating unit of Learfield Communications, the company also operates regional and statewide radio networks, provides exclusive sports programming to more than 1,000 radio stations nationwide and creates nearly 7,000 radio game broadcasts and coaches' shows each year. These ever-expanding, collegiate relationships also feature comprehensive corporate sponsorship platforms, official university publications, Internet, digital media, hospitality and game-day events. To learn more about Learfield Sports' expertise, its history and complete collegiate portfolio, visit www.learfieldsports.com.