The best spring in school history helped propel Duke to sixth in the Sears Directors' Cup standings, the highest finish in school history.
Although the newest standings do not include the College World Series, the Blue Devils' placing will not be affected. Duke finished with 510 points, tying Michigan for sixth place. The Blue Devils earned the second-highest score among private schools, behind champion Stanford. The Cardinal won for the fifth straight year and currently have 910 points, with more to come when baseball concludes.
Duke beat all other ACC teams, becoming the first school other than North Carolina to claim the conference crown. The Blue Devils narrowly beat Virginia 510-490. The Tar Heels, meanwhile, are tied for 17th but can earn more points when baseball points are added.
"I am extremely proud of our coaches and student-athletes at Duke University," Athletic Director Joe Alleva said. "It is a tremendous accomplishment and one that I hope we can continue for years to come."
Although ranked 27th after the winter, a national championship in women's golf, two additional Final Four appearances and two national quarterfinal appearances in the spring propelled Duke to its strong finish.
Stanford boasts 300 fully endowed scholarships, while Duke has just 210 scholarships, 30 of which are paid through endowment.
"For Duke University, that's really impressive in my opinion," women's lacrosse coach Kerstin Kimel said. "When we don't have sports that are able to compete at that level because of no scholarships, it's really impressive we did so well."
The Blue Devils finished in 28th place last year, but this time around sent a school-record 10 teams to NCAA tournaments. Five of those teams, men's and women's basketball, women's lacrosse, women's tennis and women's golf advanced to the Final Four.
This is the sixth year of the Sears Directors' Cup, presented annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. Schools earn a set number of points based on the finish of each varsity sport. National championships are worth 100 points while runners-up earn 80 points.
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