FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

BATES HAS BEST-EVER RANKING IN FINAL DIRECTOR'S CUP STANDINGS

LEWISTON, Maine - The Bates College athletic program finished a best-ever 35th out of 267 NCAA Division III institutions that scored points in the final 1999-2000 Sears Directors' Cup standings.

"This has been a banner year for Bates athletics," said director of athletics Suzanne Coffey. "There were so many individual and team successes for our athletes and coaches to be proud of, and I fully expect such success to continue next year and into the future."

The Bobcats' previous best finish was 49th place in 1997-98. Bates scored Directors' Cup points in eight different sports. The Bobcats scored Directors' Cup points in three sports during the spring season. Men's track place 15th at the NCAA championships, Bates' best-ever performance, while the women's track team finished 56th, scoring Director's Cup points for the first time since 1997. The men's tennis team reached the NCAAs for the second time in school history before getting eliminated in the first round.

Other 1999-2000 highlights included a 10th-place finish by the men's cross country team in the fall. Skiing, women's basketball, men's track and field and men's swimming and diving all earned points in the winter. Thirteen Bobcat individuals earned All-America honors in 1999-2000, the most in any single year in Bates history.

The Directors' Cup is the first-ever cross-sectional all-sports national recognition award for both men and women. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 18 sports -- nine for men and nine for women. Each national champion receives 100 points.

Bates is one of six New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) to finish among the top 50 schools, more than any other conference. The Bobcats finished fifth among NESCAC schools, their highest placement in the conference since the Directors' Cup was instituted in 1995-96.

The Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. It is administered by NACDA and sponsored by Sears, Roebuck and Co. There are four Sears Directors' Cup Awards, one to honor the institution with the best all around athletics program in each of the NCAA's Divisions I, II and III and the NAIA. The winner of the award receives a trophy designed by Waterford Crystal, which tours the country, appearing at major men and women's events throughout the year.
 

NACDA/Sears Directors' Cup Winter 2000 Standings
Top Ten
1.	Williams (Mass.)		849
2.	Cal.-San Diego	 		788.5
3. 	College of New Jersey		702.5
4.	St. Thomas (Minn.)		586
5.	Middlebury (Vt.)		573.5
6.	Calvin (Mich)			561
7.	Rowan (N.J.)			557
8.	Wisc.-Stevens Point		548
9.	Wisc.-Eau Claire		545
10.	Trinity (Texas)			525

New England and NESCAC Institutions in the Top 100
12.	Amherst (Mass.)			501	
13.	Springfield (Mass.)		497	
23.	Hamilton (N.Y.)			339	
35.	Bates (Maine)			291.5	
36.	Wheaton (Mass.)			289	
42.	Tufts (Mass.)			263.5	
43.	Norwich (Vt.)			259	
50.	Mass. Inst. of Tech.		236	
57.	Bowdoin (Maine)			220.5
69.	Coast Guard(Conn.)		199.5
70.	Colby (Maine)			198
75.	Keene (N.H.) St.		188
78.	Wellesley (Mass.)		182
91. 	Salem (Mass.) State		160	
94.	Southern Maine			150
100.	Bridgewater (Mass.) St.		140
100.	W. Conn. St. 			140

For more information on the Sears Director's Cup, please visit their World
Wide Web site at http://www.nacda.com/sears/sears.html.

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