U of A athletic program No. 16 in new rankings

FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks athletics program is ranked 16th in the country in the latest national standings released on Thursday.

Arkansas has 362.5 points in the latest 2017-18 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Standings released by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of America. Arkansas ranks fourth among Southeastern Conference programs and is one of seven league programs currently ranked in the top 25.

The Directors’ Cup tracks the nation’s most successful intercollegiate athletics programs for their performances throughout the year. The standings released on Thursday included men’s and women’s cross country, football, women’s field hockey, women’s ice hockey, rifle, skiing, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s swimming and diving, women’s volleyball, men’s water polo and wrestling.

Fresh off capturing its 12th consecutive conference crown at the SEC Indoor Track and Field Champion-

ships, the Arkansas women’s track and field team recorded a runner-up finish at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in College Station, Texas. The Razorbacks featured three individual national champions and earned

90 points.

The Arkansas men’s indoor track and field team earned

62.25 points for a 13th-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. The Razorbacks garnered three topfive event finishes.

The Razorbacks racked up

47 points for their 27th-place finish in women’s swimming and diving thanks in large part to a freshman national champion. Brooke Schultz capped her first NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships with an NCAA individual crown in the three-meter diving competition. It was only the third individual national diving title in school history, including the first since 1985.

A fourth NCAA Tournament berth in five seasons, netted 25 Directors’ Cup points for the Razorback soccer team.

After both the Arkansas men’s and women’s teams won the SEC Cross Country Championship in October for the fifth consecutive year, the two squads earned top-15 finishes at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Arkansas tallied 839 points and finished 20th in the 201617 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup, the ninth top-30 finish in the past decade. The Razorbacks’ also earned a top-25 finish in the final ranks for the eighth time since the previously independent men’s and women’s athletics programs were combined in 2008.

The Directors’ Cup program has recognized top intercollegiate athletics programs since 1993-94.