March 29, 2012

Cleveland, Ohio - Grand Valley State's athletic program, the winner of eight consecutive Learfield Sports Directors' Cups, has regained the lead in the 2011-12 standings, as released by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) on Thursday (Mar. 29). GVSU's top-10 finishes in both men's and women's swimming and diving pushed the Lakers back to the top spot in the Division II all-sports competition.

After the mid-winter standings were released and Grand Valley State was in second place, the Lakers jumped back ahead of Grand Canyon (Ariz.) by finishing sixth in women's swimming and diving at the Division II National Championships and eighth in men's swimming and diving at the same competition.

GVSU is back in first place in the overall standings with 550.50 total points, which also includes a first-place finish in women's indoor track and field and a 22nd-place finish in men's indoor track and field. The first-place finish in women's indoor track and field caps off back-to-back Division II National Championships for GVSU head coach Jerry Baltes and his student-athletes.

The 550.50 point total for Grand Valley State keeps the Lakers ahead of Grand Canyon (527.00 points) and Ashland (492.50). Adams State (Colo.) is fourth with 445.50 points and Augustana (S.D.) rounds out the top five schools with 404.50 total points. GVSU and Ashland make the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference the only league in the country with a pair of top-five schools in the standings.

Grand Valley State has won the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup in 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, and 2010-11. The institution holds the Division II record for most Directors' Cups ever, while UC-Davis (now a Division I school) won the award six times from 1995-96 to 2002-03.