DURHAM – Powered in part by Elinor Purrier’s title in the mile run at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships earlier this month, the University of New Hampshire has earned its highest spot in the Learfield Directors’ Cup rankings in nearly two decades. UNH was 39th overall of 351 schools in Division I in the latest standings. The Wildcats ranked ahead of their rivals in America East, the Colonial Athletic Association and Hockey East.
The Directors’ Cup standings, sponsored by Learfield, are designed to measure a school’s performance in NCAA tournament and playoff competition across all sports. The rankings are considered a go-to resource for school and athletic department administrators in gauging a program’s athletic achievement. The 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 D-I institution’s finish in up to 20 sports – 10 women’s and 10 men’s.
They were also ahead of 28 teams from the Power Five conferences that include the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Southeast Conference, the Big 12 Conference, the Big Ten Conference and the Pacific-12 Conference.
“We are so proud of the latest Learfield Cup rankings and how they are emblematic of the hard work and commitment that our staff, coaches and student-athletes exhibit every single day,” director of athletics Marty Scarano said. “We all have a deep commitment to this institution and moreover the state of New Hampshire. So UNH being nationally ranked among the very best collegiate programs in the country is significant in many ways.”
Most UNH teams compete in the America East Conference and the Wildcats have been the top league team in the Directors’ Cup rankings at the end of each of the least four years.
All but one team ahead of the Wildcats competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision. UNH plays one level below the FBS in the Football Championship Subdivision.
The Wildcats piled up points during the winter season in track & field and skiing.
Purrier’s NCAA title was UNH’s first ever for an individual track & field athlete. Brothers John and Kim Kendall each won a pair of NCAA Skimeister titles in the early 1970s.
It was also UNH’s first NCAA championship since the women’s lacrosse team won the 1985 crown. The Wildcats won a women’s hockey title in 1998, just before the NCAA took over sponsorship of the sport.
Senior Michael Shanahan’s All-American seventh-place finish in the weight throw at the NCAA championships added to the Learfield Cup point total.
The ski team’s finish of 11th in the NCAA championships, led by junior Genevieve Frigon’s 6th-place All-American result in the slalom, rounded out UNH’s scoring during the winter.
The Wildcats moved up five spots in the rankings off their spot in the fall. The football team’s run to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I FCS tournament and the men’s soccer team advancing to the Round of 16 in the NCAA tournament fueled the fall results.
The Wildcats ranked No. 78 overall as the top team representing America East in the 2016-17 listings.
Scarano is especially pleased that the UNH programs have combined athletic success with academic success through the years.
Last year, Purrier was America East’s overall Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the Wildcats won the Walter Harrison Academic Cup for America East teams for the third straight season.
“Best of all, while we compete athletically, we also compete academically as our metrics in that area are among the nation’s best as well,” Scarano said. “I can’t thank everyone in this department enough for their dedication to the cause.”
(Allen Lessels can be reached at Allen.Lessels@unh.edu or on Twitter @UNHInsider.)