Milligan Athletics Occupies No. 4 Spot in NAIA LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup Winter Standings

CLEVELAND, Ohio — On Thursday, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) unveiled the winter standings for the NAIA LEARFIELD Directors' Cup. Milligan University is currently at No. 4 in the standings, their highest ever placement, following a highly productive winter sports season.

Points for the LEARFIELD College Directors' Cup are based on each institution's finish at the NAIA National Championships for each respective sport. Milligan had eight of their winter sports earn nationals finishes, with women's basketball, men's basketball, women's bowling, men's bowling, women's swimming, men's swimming, women's indoor track & field and men's indoor track & field combining to rack up 448 points in the winter alone.

Women's basketball made their first trip to the NAIA Second Round this season since 1998-99. A First Round win against Oregon Tech placed them in a tie for 17th with each other squad that exited in the Second Round with 50 points toward the total.

Men's basketball earned their first trip to nationals since 2017-18 and ended up with 25 points following their foray into the First Round.

Women's Bowling finished in the ninth-place position at their third straight nationals appearance, earning 25 points toward Milligan's total.

Men's bowling came in fourth place at the NAIA National Championships. That finish earned the Buffaloes 71.5 points toward the standings.

The women's swimming squad ended up in eighth place at the NAIA National Championships, scoring a grand total of 66 points for the Buffs.

Men's swimming's third-place showing was the highest winter finish by the Buffaloes, as they posted an 85-point mark toward the Directors' Cup standings.

Women's indoor track & field tied in 23rd at nationals in Gainesville, Fla. this year, which afforded them 50.5 points for the standings as another Buffs contributor.

Men's indoor track & field had their highest ever indoor finish at No. 5 in Gainesville, tallying a grand total of 75 points for the Milligan total.

Overall, eight of Milligan's nine winter sports offerings put forth nationals appearances, which is a highly impressive number. Milligan's 448 points in the winter are third most in the season, as they now have a cumulative total of 668 to place fourth in the standings in their totality.

In the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC), the Buffs are the cream of the crop, as the next AAC finisher is Pikeville in 57th. Montreat sits just behind them in 59th, while Union Commonwealth is the final top-100 finisher in 78th.

The LEARFIELD Directors' Cup spring standings will be released on June 10.