Tar Heels Remain Atop Learfield Directors' Cup Standings

A pair of top-10 NCAA winter sport finishes by men's indoor track and field and women's basketball have led the University of North Carolina to the top of the 2024-25 Learfield Directors' Cup standings as of April 10.

The Tar Heels have scored points in 16 sports this academic year, seven in the fall (compiling 422.5 points) and nine in the winter (420.75 points).

Carolina's 843.25 points rank first followed by Stanford (760.50), Wisconsin (693.7), Ohio State (683.75) and Southern California (642.00).

Men's indoor track and field tied for eighth, the second consecutive year it finished in the top 10, on the strength of Ethan Strand's national championship performance in the 3000 meters. Parker Wolfe was sixth in the same event to earn first-team All-America honors and the distance medley relay was the national runner-up. Tommy Kitchell was a first-team All-America in the shot put to help earn the Tar Heels 73.5 points in the Directors' Cup standings.

Women's basketball tied for ninth place after winning two games in the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional and advancing to the Sweet 16.

Other top-25 finishes this academic year include the women's soccer's NCAA championship, field hockey (third), men's cross country (sixth), women's cross country (11th), men's and women's fencing (13th), women's swimming and diving (17th), volleyball (17th), men's swimming and diving (23rd) and women's indoor track and field (23rd).

Strand was the National Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. Makalya Paige also won a national track championship in the 800 meters and joined Strand as the ACC's Indoor Track Athletes of the Year.

The Learfield Directors' Cup measures a school's NCAA post-season success. Carolina won the first-ever competition in 1993-94 and has 25 top-10 finishes in the Cup's 30-year history.

University of North Carolina Athletics

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