2018-19 Learfield Directors' Cup Division II Final Fall Standings
West Chester - Learfield Directors' Cup History
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Following a historic fall season that saw four teams and an individual all qualify for the NCAA Championship, West Chester University climbed to No. 4 in the fall edition of the Learfield Sports National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors (NACDA) Directors' Cup Division II standings.
The Golden Rams pulled in 220 total points in Thursday's release to land in fourth amongst 150-plus eligible institutions, with WCU's placing on Thursday marking the highest that the Golden Rams have ever finished in the Learfield standings, besting their then-record fifth place finish in last fall's rankings.
A look at Thursday's list shows Colorado School of Mines on top of the NCAA DII standings with an impressive 340 points after the Engineers put six programs in the NCAA Championship, highlighted by a second-place finish in men's cross country. Bringing home both NCAA Cross Country National Championships this year, Grand Valley State tallied 315 total points to finish second in Thursday's release, ahead of Western Washington (256 points), West Chester (220 points) and fellow Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) representative Shippensburg (218). Overall, the PSAC put 13 institutions on the fall edition of the Learfield Cup standings, including three inside the top 25, as East Stroudsburg used a runner-up finish in this year's NCAA Field Hockey National Championship (won by Shippensburg) to catapult to the No. 24 spot on the list.
The 2018 fall season will go down in the annals of West Chester history, as the Golden Rams sent four of a possible seven teams to the NCAA Tournament and one individual from the men's cross country team to the championship race for the first time since 1990.
Directed by the 2018 United Soccer Coaches Atlantic Regional Coaching Staff of the Year, West Chester men's soccer made a storied run through the postseason and ended the fall as the NCAA runner-up, setting a program record with 16 victories along the way. Individually, senior defender
Kyle Hoops (Phoenixville, Pa./Great Valley) wrapped up his final season with the Purple & Gold by being named All-America by both the Conference Commissioners Association (D2 CCA) and United Soccer Coaches Association, while also becoming the program's first Division II Scholar All-America selection by the United Soccer Coaches Association.
Spending six weeks of the fall season as the top-ranked program in all of NCAA DII, West Chester field hockey captured it second straight PSAC Championship in 2018 and headed the NCAA Championship in Pittsburgh as the No. 1 team in the tournament. The Golden Rams would bow out of the championship in the semifinals, but WCU still had plenty to be proud of as West Chester ended the 2018 campaign with 17 victories and a 90% (9-1) winning percentage in conference outings. For their efforts, WCU head coach
Amy Cohen was tabbed coach of the year by both the PSAC and ECAC, while senior back
Taylor Bracale (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) was named defensive player of the year by both groups.
Under the direction of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region 1 Coach of the Year
Bill Zwaan, the Golden Rams' football team finished the fall with a 10-1 overall record, completing the regular season without a loss for the first time since 1967. West Chester captured its first outright PSAC title since 1971 this season and the squad qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. WCU boasted three All-America selections in the fall, as graduate student
Tyler Drob (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East), senior
Tyler Morrissey (Springfield, Pa./Springfield-DELCO), and senior
Diquan Gilbert (Philadelphia, Pa./Comm. Tech) all earned the distinction from the Associated Press (AP) this year.
Finally, the West Chester women's soccer program also had a banner year during the fall season, as the Golden Rams wrapped up the 2018 campaign with 13 wins and played host to the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship. WCU battled West Virginia Wesleyan to a draw in the regional semifinal, but the visiting Bobcats went on to advance to the championship after squeaking out a 4-3 victory in penalty kicks. Seniors
Julia Kirkpatrick (Brick, N.J./Brick Township) and
Nikki Caffey (Holland, Pa./Council Rock South) were both named All-Region by the United Soccer Coaches Association, with Kirkpatrick also joining juniors
Madison Baxter (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) and
Jenny Bail (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) on the 2018 All-ECAC Women's Soccer Team.
Although his individual performance did not count towards West Chester's 220-point total in the Learfield, WCU senior
Josh Coakley (Honey Brook, Pa./Twin Valley) cemented himself as one of the best male cross country runners in program history following his stellar fall campaign. Coakley logged two victories during the fall season, highlighted by a victory in the 2018 PSAC Championship to become the program's first conference champion since the 1969 season. The Honey Brook native went on to be named All-Region by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) before becoming the first West Chester male cross country runner since 1990 to earn a spot in the NCAA National Championship. Following his historic season, Coakley was named the 2018 PSAC Men's Cross Country Athlete of Year, becoming the first runner (male or female) in program history to earn the distinction from the league.
About Learfield Sports:
The Learfield Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in NCAA Championships.
An industry leader for more than four decades, Learfield has a deep presence in the college athletics landscape nationwide. It manages the multimedia and sponsorship rights for nearly 130 collegiate institutions, conferences and arenas, and supports athletic department's at all competitive levels as title sponsor of the prestigious Learfield Directors' Cup. Learfield also provides its collegiate partners access to professional concessions and ticket sales; branding, licensing and trademark consulting; digital and social platform expertise; campus-wide business and sponsorship development; and venue and technology systems through its affiliated companies.
