Babson's LEARFIELD Directors' Cup History

BABSON PARK, Mass.—Thanks to a historic spring that included five teams advancing to their respective NCAA championships, the Babson College Department of Athletics and Recreation recorded its second-highest finish in the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup standings as the Beavers placed 33rd among nearly 430 Division III institutions across the country.
 
With the most points ever accrued at 543.5, Babson beat its previous total of 519.5 set in 2017. That year, the Beavers secured their best mark of 23rd nationally. This year marked the fifth consecutive top-50 standing. Babson was 40th, 44th, 49th and 50th in 2022-25, respectively.
 
The LEARFIELD Directors' Cup is awarded annually to the nation's best overall collegiate athletics program. Each institution is awarded points in a predetermined number of sports for men and women.
 
The Division III program began in 1995-96 by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA TODAY, and it has since grown into a highly recognized mark of distinction among collegiate institutions.
 
Babson's 310.5 points in the spring are the most ever in a season for the Green and White and nearly matched its 349 points across all three seasons a year ago. The Beavers were second behind 11th-ranked MIT among the 12 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) institutions and ninth in all of New England.
 
Women's tennis made history by advancing all the way to the NCAA Tournament semifinal round for the first time in program annals. Babson downed Stevens, Middlebury and second-ranked Chicago before falling to third-ranked Washington University in the semifinals. The Beavers also dethroned conference powerhouse MIT to capture the league title.
 
Babson men's lacrosse also had a season like none other in program history, reaching the national quarterfinal round for the first time ever. The Green and White defeated Massachusetts Maritime and St. Lawrence before bowing out to eventual national runner-up RIT. The Beavers also claimed their fourth straight NEWMAC Tournament crown.
 
Men's tennis advanced to the NCAA round of 16 by defeating Skidmore after going back-to-back in the NEWMAC Tournament, men's golf placed 21st in the country at the NCAA Championship in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida, and baseball advanced to the NCAA Tournament regional round after winning its second NEWMAC Tournament title in the last three seasons.
 
Babson also had individual athletes compete at the NCAA men's and women's tennis and men's and women's track & field championships, including senior Matia Cristiani (San Salvador, El Salvador) winning her first singles national title. She and first-year Sandra Sikharulidze (Kyiv, Ukraine) were runners-up in doubles, with Cristiani making the championship match in all four seasons.
 
Senior Alexander Merson (Palisades Park, N.J.) and sophomore Edward Wang (Burr Ridge, Ill.) competed in the NCAA men's tennis singles championships in Chattanooga, Tennessee, while graduate student Skyler Mott (Mills Neck, N.Y.) and sophomore Amrit Rehal (Alpharetta, Ga.) each earned All-America status in the high jump at the NCAA Track & Field Championships in La Crosse, Wisconsin.