LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Colorado State University Pueblo finished 24th in the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup standings for the 2023-24 school years, marking the ThunderWolves' second-highest finish ever and its second straight Top 25 showing in the ranking of athletic department performance at the NCAA Division II level.
"The LEARFIELD Directors' Cup is a measuring stick that we use annually to track our overall athletic department success in NCAA Championships. We have watched the Pack rise up in the standings each year and are proud of our accomplishments to date," said CSU Pueblo Vice President for Athletics and Strategic Partnerships
Dr. Paul Plinske. "I'm really looking forward to 2024-25 because I believe that we have more teams looking to qualify to the national tournament and score points for CSU Pueblo"
During the recently completed spring sports season, the Pack totaled 143.50 points after totaling 220.50 points during the fall and 127.00 points during the winter. After the winter standings were released, CSU Pueblo was 17th after being 10th at the conclusion of the fall sports season.
In the spring, the Pack scored in four sports as the women's golf team scored the most points with 52 following its sixth-place finish at the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships, while the men's outdoor track and field team scored 33.5 point for its tie for 38th place at the NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships. The Pack also scored in both women's outdoor track and field as they tallied 32 points for its 40th place at the NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships and the men's golf team scored 26.5 points for their tie for 12th place at the NCAA Division II South Central/West Super Regional.
In this year's LEARFIELD Directors' Cup standings, 251 NCAA Division II schools scored points based on their qualifications and performances in NCAA postseason competition. During the 2023-24 school year, the Pack recorded a national runner-up finish in men's soccer, while the men's and women's cross country teams each had Top 12 finishes at the NCAA Division II National Championships in the fall, while the Pack's men's and women's indoor track and field teams placed 22nd and 18th respectively at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships and Cyruss Meeks (Casper, Wyo./Natrona County) helped the men's wrestling team score 22 points thanks to qualifying as an individual at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships.
Along with the national runner-up finish in men's soccer, CSU Pueblo had two student-athletes record national runner-up finishes in indoor track and field as junior Katherine Higgins (Mead, Colo./Ponderosa) repeated as a silver medalist in the women's shot put, while senior Justin Jenks (Helena, Mont./Helena Capital) was the silver medalist in the men's shot put.
CSU was one of four schools from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference to finish in the Top 25 of the final 2023-24 Division II LEARFIELD Directors' Cup standings as Colorado School of Mines was the highest finishing team in the RMAC as they finished sixth overall with a total of 748.5 points, while Colorado Mesa also placed inside the Top 10 at No. 10 with 665 points and Adams State was 14th with 601.75 points. Western Colorado finished just outside the Top 25 at No. 28 with 435 points. Overall, 14 of the 15 league schools scored in the this year's final standings.
Grand Valley State was the top overall Division II athletic program again this year as the Lakers scored a total of 983 points to repeat as the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup winner in Division II. The University of Indianapolis was second with 901.25 points, while West Texas A&M was third with 900.25 points. Wingate (870 points) and Tampa (760.50 points) were fourth and fifth respectively in the final Division II standings.
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 national finish in up to 14 sports in NCAA Division II championships.
