April 4, 2011
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Powered by the best finish at the national championship in the history of the Hawkeye indoor track and field program and a third place finish at the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championship, the University of Iowa sits in 33rd place in the most recent Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings.
The Hawkeyes have accumulated 264.25 points in the season-long competition 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 national championship competition in up to 10 men’s sports and 10 women’s sports.
Iowa’s current point total is a 42.25 improvement from a year ago when Iowa stood in 57th place. The department finished the 2009-10 season ranked 55th.
UI’s current score includes 100.75 points scored by its men’s and women’s track teams as a result of its performances at the 2011 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Ten Hawkeyes earned All-America honors as Iowa’s men’s squad finished eighth place — a school-record — and the women’s squad 50th.
“We are pretty excited,” Larry Weiczorek, Iowa’s head coach for men’s track and field, said shortly after the championship. “We had a tremendous team effort over the last two days. Our worst finish was ninth when Jordan [Mullen] missed qualifying for the finals by one-one hundredth of a second.
That’s pretty good. To be in the top 10 in the country is just great. We’re so excited right now. We have a great group of guys that just fought really hard.”
Iowa’s current score also includes 85 points as a result of Iowa’s third-place finish at the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championship, and 43.5 points as a result of Iowa’s 30th place finish at the 2011 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.
The Big Ten Conference leads the country with five teams ranked in the top 10. Iowa currently ranks seventh among its league peers.
For the complete Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings, click HERE.