Wartburg jumps into Learfield Sports Directors' Cup top five

Wartburg College's NCAA Division III national wrestling championship, a runner-up finish at the NCAA Division III indoor women's track and field championship and top 25 effort at the NCAA Division III indoor men's track and field championships helped lift the Knights into the top five of the first set of the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup winter sports standings as released by the National Association of College Directors of Athletics March 16.

Wartburg's 242.5 winter season points are a divisional high mark to date. The college's overall total of 415.5 points ranks fourth, less than 46 points shy of standings' leader Calvin College of Michigan who has 461.25. The final set of winter sports standings is scheduled to be released March 31.

Wartburg turned in the highest Directors' Cup finish in college and Iowa Conference history in 2002-03, ending the season at seventh. The Knights also placed 10th in 2000-01 and eighth in 2007-08. The athletic program's 2007-08 722-point total was the highest in school and Iowa Conference history.

The Learfield Sports Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between NACDA and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution's national championship finish in up to 18 sports -- nine women's and nine men's. Each national champion receives 100 points. The complete standings can be viewed at http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nacda/sports/directorscup/auto_pdf/DivIIIMarch17.pdf.