The past school year was arguably the most exciting in recent memory for Tufts athletics and, ever since the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings were released at the end of June, it seems that recognition of the Jumbos' success has spread throughout the nation.
Tufts teams accumulated a total of 699 points throughout the fall, winter and spring seasons of the 2009-10 academic year to edge out Wisconsin-La Crosse, placing sixth out of the 311 Div. III schools that the organization ranks based on finishes at NCAA championship events.
That ranking ties Tufts' best-ever performance in the Cup (2005-06) and confirms the Jumbos' status as a national sports powerhouse. The NESCAC also solidified its dominance as the country's most competitive Div. III conference, with four teams placing in the top 10. Williams and Amherst finished first and second with 1292.25 and 905.75 points, respectively, and Middlebury placed fourth with 751.
The biggest contribution to Tufts' strong showing came in the spring season, when head coach Mike Daly's men's lacrosse team brought home the university's first NCAA team title with a 9-6 victory over strongly favored Salisbury, adding the maximum number of possible points per sport, 100, to Tufts' Directors' Cup total.
The spring season's total was also boosted by 64 points each from coach John Casey's baseball team and Kate Bayard's women's tennis squad. Baseball ended the 2010 season as the No. 10 team in the final American Baseball Coaches Association national poll, while then-junior tri-captain Julia Browne claimed the NCAA women's singles title and earned the NESCAC's Player of the Year honor. Men's and women's track and field also added 23.5 and 54 points, respectively.
In the winter season, coach Adam Hoyt's men's swimming and diving team notched 55.5 points with an 18th-place showing at the national meet. Women's basketball was just behind with 50 points; men's and women's indoor track and field as well as women's swimming and diving also contributed to Tufts' 237.5 winter season points.
The field hockey and volleyball teams in the fall season earned a combined 156 points for the poll. The field hockey squad, which made an appearance in the 2009 national semifinals, almost beat men's lacrosse to the national championship punch, ultimately earning 83 points for its performance. Volleyball, which made its way to the national Elite Eight, added 73 points.
In the coming academic year, Tufts teams may face the most pressure yet with expectations high for strong national showings. But, with athletics on the rise across the board for the Jumbos, it should be an exciting year as Tufts' athletes begin their pursuit of another NCAA Div. III triumph.
