NEWS & RESULTS:

WILLIAMS COLLEGE WINS SIXTH SEARS DIRECTORS' CUP in 7-YEAR HISTORY of AWARD in NCAA DIV. III

**Three NCAA Spring Titles Boost Ephs to Fourth Straight Win**

*Three NESCAC Teams Finish in Top 10*

CLEVELAND, OH -- The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and Sears have announced that Williams College has won the 2001-02 Sears Directors' Cup for NCAA Division III. This is the Ephs' sixth Sears Directors' Cup in the seven-year history of the award in NCAA Division III.

Williams accumulated a NCAA Division III record 989 points in retaining the Sears Directors' Cup. Second place Ithaca tallied 852 points. The Ephs broke their own point total record of 897.5 with an exceptionally strong spring season.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Williams has won the Sears Directors' Cup, emblematic of athletic supremacy in NCAA Division III. Only Stanford in NCAA Division I (8) and Simon Fraser University (5) in NAIA have had longer win streaks than the Ephs. The Ephs scored in nine women's and seven men's sports out of the maximum of 18 permitted.

Only UC-San Diego (now a Division II institution) and Williams have won the NCAA Div. III Sears Directors' Cup. Williams won the first two Sears Directors' Cups in 1996 and 1997 before the UC San Diego Tritons won in 1998. Division III is the largest membership classification in the NCAA with 396 members.

Of the Ephs' 31 Varsity teams, 18 finished in the top 20 in the nation with 10 teams finishing in the top 10. The Ephs were particularly impressive in Little Three play versus Wesleyan and Amherst, rolling to an overall mark of 56-8 (.875). The Ephs won 22 Little Three titles outright, tied with Amherst in men's basketball and finished in a three-way tie in men's lacrosse. It took Amherst and Wesleyan until the spring of 2002 to record their only outright Little Three titles of the 2001-02 academic year. Amherst claimed the women's lacrosse crown, while Wesleyan took home the baseball title -- other than that it was all Williams.

"The Williams community takes great pride in the varied accomplishments of our students, including these impressive and inspirational achievements on the playing fields," said Williams President Morty Schapiro.

Williams also won 11 NESCAC Championships on the year, five in the fall, one in the winter and five in the spring. Three NESCAC teams finished in the top ten with Middlebury placing fourth with 703.5 points and Amherst finishing in seventh with 623 points.

The Ephs trailed the College of New Jersey (TCNJ) 678 to 663.5 at the time of the spring Sears Directors' Cup update on May 23rd. Then the Ephs racked up an impressive total of 325.5 points in four sports by winning three NCAA titles and having men's track and field improve from 35th in the country at the indoor championships to 16th at the outdoor championships.

For the second consecutive year Williams College won both the men's and women's NCAA Division III tennis titles. Julie Greenwood's women's team became the first team in the 21-year history of the NCAA event to repeat as champions and Dave Johnson's men's team won its third title in four years.

Senior men's tennis captain Josh Lefkowitz capped off his sparkling career by earning All-American honors all four years, going undefeated at number one singles in NCAA team matches all four years (16-0) and leading the Ephs to three NCAA team titles. He also won the 2002 NCAA Singles title and was named the 2002 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Player of the Year.

Sophomore Julie Mallory had the honor and distinction of winning the match-clinching point in the women's tennis NCAA championship match for the second consecutive year when she won her singles match vs. Emory.

The Greenwood - Mallory connection runs deep in Williams women's tennis history. Julie Mallory's older sister, Becky '95, teamed with current head coach Julie Greewnood in 1994 to win the NCAA Doubles title and Becky Mallory coached senior tri-captain Selma Kikic (#1 singles/#1 doubles) in high school in Dallas, TX.

With his 2002 Ephs winning the NCAA tennis title Dave Johnson became the first Eph coach to win three NCAA titles and one of four to win back-to-back titles. Julie Greenwood tied retired swimming coach Carl Samuelson as the only Eph women's coaches to win back-to-back NCAA titles. Samuelson led the Ephs to the 1982 and 1983 NCAA swimming titles. Greenwood remains the only female coach at Williams to win a NCAA title as well as the only one to win back-to-back titles.

Three Eph senior women's rowers decided to forego their Senior Week activities on campus for the chance to compete for the first NCAA Rowing Championship for Women in NCAA Div. III. The trio was a significant reason why the Ephs brought home the first title ever offered in NCAA Division III. Shoshana Clark, Izzy Lowell and Laura Spero may have missed their Senior Week on campus, but they will never forget their 'senior week' in Indianapolis with the other Eph rowers. "I don't remember a thing about my Senior Week," noted Athletic Director Harry Sheehy '75, "but I do know that you will never forget this weekend -- congratulations."

NCAA Div. III Top 25 Division III (final standings)

To view the complete NCAA Division III standings click here