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Trailing Ephs Rally to Win 11th Director's CupBy Dick Quinn
Williams Sports Info
10:00AM / Friday, June 19, 2009
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — There are no sure things in athletics so it is often good advice to not count your chickens before they hatch" or in the case of NCAA Division III sports, one should at least "wait 'till the cows come home."
One has to wonder if the good folks working in the sports department at USA Today on the night of May 21 wished they had waited a little longer before suggesting Williams archrival Amherst as the expected winner of the 2008-09 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup.
At the bottom of the lefthand column of the May 22 edition of USA Today was a headline sure to capture the attention of all Eph fans, "Even in defeat, Amherst may still win," that referred to the 2008-09 Directors' Cup race.
"Amherst (Mass.) missed a chance at national titles in men's and women's tennis Thursday but enhanced its chances of dethroning Williams (Mass.) and claiming the title of the best all-around athletic program in Division III for 2008-2009. Williams has won the Learfield Sports Director's Cup the last 10 years. The Lord Jeffs lost to Williams 5-2 in the women's final, and the men lost to UC-Santa Cruz 5-0. But the points they picked up added to the lead Amherst already had on Williams, which was third in the Cup standings entering Thursday."
Cows are generally regarded as placid and social animals, but the purple cows of Williams are all of that and more — they compete and often they win, moo.
Points in the Directors' Cup competition are awarded based on an institution's performance in NCAA postseason championship events.
The women's crew, above, and tennis team wins added 200 points to Williams' score to overtake Amherst. |
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Amherst held a 78.5-point lead over the Ephs heading into the spring season. However, there were still 11 spring NCAA Division III championships to be determined and the Ephs were competing in six (men's and women's tennis, men's and womens track & field, women's lacrosse, and women's rowing), while Amherst was entered in three (men's and women's tennis and had one competitor in men's track & field).
The Ephs spring point-accumulation process began when the women's lacrosse team finished ninth in the nation (53 points) and men's tennis finished fifth (73 points) before women's tennis won the title (100 points).
Eph senior Lauren Philbrook won the 10,000-meter run to lead the Ephs women's track & field team to a 15th place finish, collecting 60 points. Senior Macklin Chaffee finished second in the 1,500-meter run and the Ephs added another 60 points to their Directors' Cup score, effectively wrapping up the 11th straight Directors' Cup.
The Ephs then capped off a stellar spring when the women's crew team won a record fourth consecutive NCAA title and added the final 100 points.
A year ago, the Ephs came from behind to win their 10th consecutive Directors' Cup on the strength of NCAA championships won by women's tennis and women's crew. Williams has come from behind after the winter season four times, including the last two consecutive years.
Williams has now won 13 of the 14 Cups that been awarded in NCAA Division III. (For past cup announcements, click here.)
Maybe the catch phrase used by the USA Today sports department should have been "the cream always rises," moo.
Season-by-season highlights include the volleyball team peaking in time to knock of top-seeded Amherst to win the NESCAC crown in the fall, win the New England Regional title and advance to the Elite Eight. Wrestling with its first-ever top 10 finish provided a shining moment in the winter, while repeat NCAA titles by women's tennis (2) and women's crew (4) added even more sparkle in the spring.
Lauren Philbrook runs away with the 10,000-meter championship. |
Alison Swain, class of 2001, in women's tennis has authored quite an NCAA tennis streak in just two years at the helm of the Eph squad. Swain as a player was a member of the Ephs' first NCAA title team in 2001 and has coached the Ephs to back-to-back titles. In the last 15 NCAA matches, Swain has played in or coached she is a stunning 15-0 mark.
Capturing the 2009 NCAA Division III Rowing Championships for Women vaulted Justin Moore and women's crew to the top of the Eph NCAA title list. Women's crew now has five NCAA titles, one more than women's tennis. Moore, who missed the 2008 season while coaching in Canada during a sabbatical year has won four NCAA crowns, most by an Eph coach in one sport and one gender in his 10-year run at Williams. Men's and women's cross-country coach Peter Farwell also owns four NCAA titles, split evenly between the men's and women's teams.
NESCAC finished 1, 2, 3 in the final Directors' Cup standings for 2008-09 with Williams, Middlebury and Amherst taking the top three spots. NESCAC placed four teams in all in the top 10, with Tufts finishing 10th.
Top 10 Division III Learfield Sports Directors' Cup Teams
01. Williams – 1,066.50
02. Middlebury (Vt.) – 923.00
03. Amherst – 910.00
04. Washington Univ. (Mo.) – 873.00
05. Cortland State (N.Y.) – 861.00
06. Emory (Atlanta) – 809.50
07. Wisconsin-Stevens Point – 779.00
08. Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) – 765.00
09. College of New Jersey – 759.50
10. Tufts – 7 |
| Great job Ephs! | | from: Former Williamstown resident | on: 06-19-2009 |
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