Ole Miss posts highest Directors’ Cup finish

Published 5:59 am Friday, June 30, 2017

Ole Miss’ athletic department turned in its best finish ever in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup in the 2016-17 standings.

The Rebels finished 39th with 570.25 points. The Cup measures competitive success for Division-I schools with schools being awarded points based on championship participation for each NCAA-sanctioned sport.

Ole Miss’ previous best finish was 45th for the 1998-99 season. Ole Miss jumped 10 spots from its 49th-place finish for the 2015-16 season.

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“We are proud of the hard work by our student-athletes and coaches in reaching this new milestone for our department,” Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork said in a statement. “We strive for success in all areas, and the Directors’ Cup is an excellent barometer for that. Our ceiling has yet to be defined and we know there is more to be accomplished in all of our sports. We look forward to competing for and winning championships in the years to come.”

Men’s track & field led the way with a fourth-place finish worth 80 points. Softball, which made its first-ever super regional appearance this season, accounted for 64 points with a ninth-place finish. Women’s indoor track & field and men’s outdoor track & field were the only other sports to post top-15 finishes.

Stanford won the Cup with 1,563 points. Florida finished third with 1,252.5 points to lead all Southeastern Conference teams.