Penn State Athletics is continuing its success as it once again is poised to finish in the top ten in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup. This past year, Penn State finished fourth in the final fall 2014 standings — tying its highest fall ranking since 2009-10 — and posted its sixth consecutive top three ranking in winter, finishing second.

The Nittany Lions are joined in the current top ten by No. 6 Ohio State, the only other Big Ten school to rank that high. Penn State earned 1,060.75 Directors’ Cup points to rank seventh, behind only Stanford (1,448), UCLA (1,186), USC (1,159), North Carolina (1,152), Florida(1105.5), and Ohio State (1,087).

Ranking seventh would give Penn State its 11th top-ten overall finish in 22 years, and this is the third consecutive year the Nittany Lions earned more than 1,000 Directors’ Cup points. Lots of the points were gained from the championships that Penn State won this past year, such as the Women’s Volleyball National Championship and Big Ten titles in Men’s Gymnastics, Women’s Lacrosse, and Women’s Soccer.

Many other teams made significant contributions including a Pinstripe Bowl win by Penn State football, an NCAA Championship appearance and an EIVA Championship by Men’s Volleyball, an NCAA Tournament appearance by Men’s Soccer, and Track and Field having its highest finish in the NCAA Track and Field Championships since 1966.

Along with the team accomplishments, three Nittany Lions won individual NCAA Championships this season. Wrestler Matt Brown won the 174-pound National Championship, freshman Thad Lawson secured the individual title on the floor exercise and freshman fencer Andrew Mackiewicz claimed the men’s sabre national title.

Penn State is one of only nine programs in the country  to finish in the top 25 in all 21 Directors’ Cup final standings, along with Florida State, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State, USC, Stanford, Texas and UCLA.

The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup has been one of the more coveted awards in college athletics since its inception in 1993. The Cup’s main focus is to award an institution that shows the most amount of athletic excellence through a points system gained by the success of its teams. The winner receives a crystal trophy and is the self-proclaimed “crowning achievement in college sports.”