CLEVELAND, Ohio - Carson-Newman's athletic department concluded the academic year with its highest ever finish in the Learfield Director's Cup standings. C-N wrapped up 2017-18 with a top-25 finish and a school-record 498 points in the annual standings.
The standings, released by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), award points based on the finish of 14 men's and women's sports. California Baptist finished first followed by Grand Valley State and West Texas A&M.
Carson-Newman finished 21st in the standings, the third highest in the Southeast Region behind South Atlantic Conference members Queens (7th) and Wingate (8th).
The Eagles got points in the spring standings from its softball, men's golf and men's track and field teams. The Eagles got 38 points from the softball program, which got a win in the Southeast Regional over Georgia College. The men's golf program drew 37.5 points after coming up seven strokes shy of a spot to compete for the national championship. Finally, bolstered by Kieran Showler-Davis' All-American run in the 100 Meters, the men's outdoor track team got 32.5 points.
Carson-Newman sat in 12th place at the conclusion of the winter standings. The Eagles scored points with both its basketball teams, both its swim programs and its indoor men's track team. The women's basketball and women's swim teams were the top earners from the winter. The women's hoops team rolled through the Southeast Regional and into the Elite Eight to collect 73 points. The women's swim program tallied a best-ever ninth place finish at nationals to notch 69 points behind two bronze medal swims from Maggie Melhorn. Men's track got 52.5 points off a 20th-place finish that featured an individual national championship for Eight-time All-American Tanner Stepp in the high jump.
Men's basketball garnered 25 points with an opening round NCAA tournament loss to Clayton State. Men's swimming finished 28th to draw in 46 points.
The fall featured Carson-Newman's highest scoring team. The women's soccer program netted 90 points for finishing as the national runner up. Volleyball grabbed 25 points for making the tournament.
The Eagles' previous best finishes came in 2009-10 and 2015-16. The Eagles finished in 42nd place in 2015-16, which then reset the school's previous high-water mark set in in the 2009-2010 academic year. Carson-Newman finished 45th that year with 353.50 points.