Kent State Athletics Success Recognized in Directors' Cup Finish
7/19/2017 12:22:00 PM | General
KENT, Ohio – The Kent State University department of athletics continued its string of outstanding all around seasons and raised the bar in 2016-17, reaching a new benchmark in the 2016-17 Learfield Directors' Cup.
The Golden Flashes broke the Mid-American Conference record for total points in the Directors' Cup, which ranks Division I athletic departments for success across all sports. Kent State reached 400 points in this year's all-sports competition, becoming the first MAC school to do so. Kent State had previously been the only MAC school to ever surpass 300 points and has owned the Directors' Cup record since 2000.
The Flashes finished the season ranked 63rd among 351 NCAA Division I schools. The Flashes were second among all schools in the Non-Autonomy-5 conferences and 19 spots ahead of any other school in the MAC. Kent State finished ahead of several schools from the Autonomy-5 conferences such as Kansas State, Georgia Tech, Boston College, Texas Tech, Rutgers, Oregon State, Vanderbilt, Washington State and Pitt.
This was the fourth season in 24 years of the Directors' Cup in which Kent State finished in the top-65. Kent State has been a top-100 program among 351 schools in 20 of 24 years. Kent State has led the MAC in 19 of those seasons.
The Flashes repeated its consistent success by staying true to the mission of the athletic department: graduate student-athletes and win championships #FlashesForever. Seven Kent State programs (field hockey, women's soccer, men's basketball, softball, baseball, women's golf, men's golf) won a MAC regular season or tournament title, while women's basketball won a MAC East title.
Meanwhile, the departmental annual GPA rose to 3.218, the second highest mark in program history. Additionally, 77 student-athletes finished the 2016-17 academic year with a 4.0 GPA, while 47 percent finished the year with a 3.4 GPA or better.
The year was capped off when 10-time All-American Danniel Thomas won the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championship in the shot put. The former Olympian for Jamaica continues to represent Kent State as she moves on to the World Championships in London later this summer. Eleven different Golden Flashes across 10 sports earned All-America honors and 11 student-athletes were honored as MAC Player of the Year for their sport.
Kent State collected 72.75 of 400 points from the women's golf program, which had its best season in program history, finishing fifth at the NCAA National Championship. The men's golf team collected another 53 points with their own strong showing at Nationals. Other scoring teams included indoor and outdoor track and field, women's soccer, gymnastics, softball, mens' basketball and wrestling.
For the full Directors' Cup standings, click HERE (PDF).
