June 29, 2009

CLEVELAND - The University of Illinois athletic department achieved great success in the 2008-09 season, which is reflected in the Fighting Illini's school-record 20th-place finish out of 271 schools in the 2009 Division I Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings. Illinois was led by a fifth-place finish from the men's gymnastics team and an eighth-place standing by the wrestling squad in their respective national tournaments. Illinois' previous best finishes in the Directors' Cup standings were a pair of 25th-place finishes earlier this decade.

In addition to the top finishes by the men's gymnastics and wrestling teams, women's gymnastics earned 64.5 points with its 12th-place finish, while volleyball, women's soccer and men's tennis all earned 64 points. Women's track scored 63.75 points by finishing 12th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and women's cross country notched 60 points by placing 10th.

Five Big Ten schools finished in the top 20, with Michigan ranking fifth, Ohio State placing 10th, Minnesota finishing 14th and Penn State placing 19th. In all, 10 Big Ten institutions ranked in the top 50 and all finished in the top 55 in the nation.

Final Directors' Cup Standings
Rk	School	Total Points
1.	Stanford		1,455.00
2.	North Carolina		1,184.25
3.	Florida			1,172.75
4.	Southern California	1,137.75
5.	Michigan		1,131.80
6.	Texas			1,105.50
7.	California		1,072.00
8.	Virginia		1,059.00
9.	Louisiana State		1,029.00
10.	Ohio State		1,015.80
11.	Washington		1,010.25
12.	Arizona State		1,001.75
13.	Texas A&M		976.00
14.	Minnesota		975.75
15.	Florida State		945.00
16.	UCLA			909.25
17.	Duke			891.80
18.	Georgia			866.50
19.	Penn State		813.10
20.	Illinois		808.75
21.	Notre Dame		775.13
22.	Oregon			757.25
23.	Tennessee		746.25
24.	Arizona			738.50
25.	Arkansas		730.00