Emory has once again excelled in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup, a national ranking of collegiate athletic programs in their respective divisions. Of the 324 eligible National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III athletics programs, Emory finished in third place with a total of 969 points, just behind second-place finisher Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) (1,013 points) and first-place Williams College (Mass.) (1,098.25 points).
The Directors’ Cup compares the cumulative results of each school’s athletics program, including the results of up to 18 different sports teams at each university. Since the award was expanded to NCAA Division III programs in 1995, Emory has finished in the top 10 for 17 years.
“I think every individual team takes great pride in their program, and not only in their program but in representing Emory University and Emory Athletics, and when you do that, you become a part of a bigger picture,” Emory’s men’s basketball head coach Jason Zimmerman said.
The Emory men’s basketball team is coming off a season in which they reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA D-III tournament for the third consecutive season. Yet this is only one component of Emory’s 2015-2016 athletics program, which also boasts national championships from the women’s swimming and tennis programs.
With many Emory programs setting such high standards, it can be daunting for future athletes to try and live up to expectations, but Zimmerman sees it a different way.
“We are all different programs, but we are all a part of Emory Athletics, helping each other succeed. So when the women’s swim team wins a national championship, that doesn’t put any pressure on us. It creates excitement that, ‘Hey, this can be done,’ ” Zimmerman said.
Ultimately, the Directors’ Cup is a combined effort achieved by the Athletics Department as a whole, but this accomplishment would be impossible without the individual efforts of the many athletes, coaches and staff that represent Emory Athletics.
Clyde Partin Sr. Director of Athletics Michael Vienna emphasized that “we’ve got incredibly talented and hardworking coaches, as well as a support staff who go out and get us the best and brightest student athletes available, and that creates the success that we are having.”
As far as Vienna is concerned, there is no slowing down. “There’s a mindset in athletics that if you aren’t moving forward, you are getting behind … We are going to continue to work to get better,” he said.
kevin.james.kilgour@emory.edu | Kevin Kilgour (18B) is from Wichita, Kan., majoring in English and business administration with a concentration in marketing. This past summer, he worked as a communications and development intern at Global Growers Network. Some of his greatest sports accomplishments include predicting Butler’s 2010 Final Four run and leading PAL Group One Eight (gold is our fate) to an Oxford Olympics championship. One of his goals in life is to write Derrick Rose’s biography.
