NCAA championships in men’s lacrosse and women’s swimming and diving propelled the University of Virginia to an 11th-place finish in the final 2020-21 Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup competition, announced Friday by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
The competition tracks participating universities’ overall performance across a range of different sports.
Virginia placed in the top 25 for the 14th consecutive year. UVA is one of 10 schools to rank in the top 30 of the final Directors’ Cup standings in each of the 27 years the program has existed. (The Directors’ Cup was not awarded in 2020 due to the pandemic.)
Points in the Director’s Cup standings are awarded by a school’s NCAA postseason finish in 19 sports, four of which must be men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and volleyball.
“This has been an amazing year for a lot of reasons and the performances of our teams and our Directors’ Cup finish shows how well our coaches and student-athletes met those challenges,” said Virginia Director of Athletics Carla Williams. “I am so proud of how our entire department performed, considering the circumstances. Winning two national championships and seeing several individuals crowned national champions was fantastic. For our student-athletes and coaches to manage the hurdles and protocols put before them on a daily basis to be able to compete, that was the real victory.
“There were so many outstanding performances and highlights that were a real positive and inspiration for all of our fans and supporters. We look forward to ensuring our sports programs are a source of great pride for the University, the community and the commonwealth.”
In addition to the pair of NCAA championships, the UVA baseball team advanced to the College World Series, the women’s soccer team earned a berth in the NCAA College Cup, the rowing squad placed fifth at the NCAA Championships, men’s swimming and diving team finished ninth at the NCAA Championships, and the men’s and women’s tennis teams each advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s round of 16.
Wahoowa! #UVA finishes 11th in final @LDirectorsCup Standings!
https://t.co/FJxFZWiNQc#GoHoos | #Wahoowapic.twitter.com/YdsJa3ni3Z— Virginia Cavaliers (@VirginiaSports) July 2, 2021
UVA captured three Atlantic Coast Conference championships; its 86 conference titles since the spring of 2002 are the most of any ACC school during that time. In 2020-21, UVA claimed ACC championships in women’s swimming and diving (17th championship in program history and 12th title since 2008), men’s tennis (13th championship in program history) and rowing (11th consecutive and 20 of 21 overall). The Cavaliers also claimed ACC regular-season titles in men’s basketball and men’s tennis.
