Princeton finishes 33rd in Directors' Cup standings

While the majority of Princeton's student population know that its school once again resides at the pinnacle of the U.S. News and World Report rankings of the top national universities, they probably are unaware of the school's preeminence in another prominent classification. This past June, the 2003-2004 Tigers were lauded as the nation's top non-scholarship university and the 33rd overall in the United States Sports Academy Directors' Cup competition. Princeton has garnered this honor for eight of the nine years the cup has been awarded.

Previously known as the Sears' Direct NACDA Directors' Cup, the standings determine the top athletic program in the country as demonstrated by the number and extent of a school's championship appearances. The race for the top overall national athletic program was a tightly contested battle between Stanford and Michigan, with Stanford eventually emerging on top for the ninth consecutive year. However, in the concurrent competition among the non-scholarship schools and Ivies, Princeton's student-athletes demonstrated how athletic excellence and academic success can be compatible.

The runner-up in the overall standing among Ivy League schools was Harvard, making the list at number 58. They were followed by the University of Pennsylvania at 70.

"I view our performance on the national level as basically being a byproduct of adhering to our core values and core purpose," Director of Athletics Gary Walters '67 said. "We want to make sure that our student-athletes have an education as well as a winning experience. If a byproduct of that commitment is that we do well on the national scene, that's wonderful. That's the icing on the cake."

Although it fell just out of the top 25 overall programs this year, Princeton remains the only Ivy League school to ever break into that elite grouping, a feat it has accomplished four times.

Princeton finished the Directors' Cup race with 536.5 points, 1.5 points behind Nebraska and 16.5 points ahead of South Carolina. Tiger women's and men's lacrosse, which were awarded 90 and 83 points, respectively, for their success in their NCAA tournaments, were among the sports contributing the most to Princeton's ranking. Fencing, women's rowing and women's cross-country also played significant roles.

"Our success is a result of the pursuit of excellence across all programs," Walters said. "Certain years, certain sports flower when certain other sports may not be doing quite as well, but we've been blessed with a number of teams with sustained eras of competitive excellence."

Despite Princeton's relatively small undergraduate population, these Directors' Cup results demonstrate that its student body can successfully support the school's 38 varsity sports. Among Princeton's roughly 4,600 students, approximately one-fourth participate on varsity teams.

Although few students need coercion to apply to and matriculate at Princeton, it does not take anyone long to understand the tremendous variety of academic, athletic, social and cultural opportunities present. Plaudits from independent sources such as the Directors' Cup serve to validate the balance between academic and athletic endeavors that are a definitive part of the Princeton environment. While individual student-athletes and teams may focus on the trophy at the end of their respective seasons, the athletic administration cheers for this overall prize.

"The issue that we're really quite proud of is the fact that we've led the Ivy League in the unofficial performance total for the past 18 years," Walter said. "That's a continuous level of excellence. Last year we won 11 Ivy League championships, and that's not easy to do. I just feel an enormous sense of pride knowing the quality of people associated with our athletic program."