Brandywine Places Fourth In USCAA Director’s Cup

MEDIA, Pa. -- The Penn State Brandywine athletic department closed out the top year in campus history by finishing fourth in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Director's Cup standings during the 2017-18 academic year.

Beginning in the 2006-07, one member of the USCAA has received the Director's Cup as the top athletic department among the Association's 85 member institutions. Points are awarded based on results from USCAA Championship events as well as number of sponsored sports offered and attendance at the USCAA Convention in June.

Winner of the Penn State University Athletic Conference Chancellors' Cup as the top athletic department in the conference for the second-straight year, Brandywine sent eight teams to USCAA Championships or USCAA National Invitational events plus individual competitors to an additional two national championships. Six Brandywine squads earned automatic bids to USCAA Tournaments after winning PSUAC titles. The men's and women's basketball teams both reached the semifinals of their respective tournaments, while the softball team tied for fifth, its third consecutive top-five showing at the USCAA World Series. The Brandywine men's soccer, women's soccer, volleyball, men's golf and men's track & field teams all competed at the national championships, while the men's and women's cross country teams were represented by individual competitors.

The department accumulated 483.3 points, its top mark during the 12-year history of the Director's Cup. Cleary University finished with the top point total for the second-straight year, totaling 622.5 points, while St. Mary of the Woods (512.5) and Florida College (510.5) rounded out the top three.

Brandywine's fourth-place finish marked just the second time a member of the PSUAC ended the year in the among the top four in the Director's Cup standings after Penn College finished second in 2008-09. Penn College, a member of the PSUAC from 2004-14, has since joined NCAA Division III. Brandywine's best showing previously came during 2016-17 when it finished 16th.