Directors’ Cup stays in Austin
July 7, 2022
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the July 6, 2022 flipbook.
The 2020-21 athletics season came to a close with the completion of the College World Series, making Texas’ second straight NACDA Directors’ Cup win official.
The Longhorns now sit behind Stanford for most Directors’ Cup wins. Annually awarded to the college or university with the most athletic success in an academic year, the Cardinal had been on a 25-year win streak before Texas captured its first last year.
Points are tallied for a maximum of 19 sports depending on how far each makes it during the regular and postseasons. At the end of the academic year, the school with the most total points is crowned the winner. The Longhorns got off to a relatively slow start, only garnering 186.50 points across fall sports and finding themselves at No. 24 in the standings.
Winter sports brought better fortunes for the Longhorns, who gained 493 points and jumped all the way up to sixth in the standings.
Heading into the spring, Texas was still over 300 points behind first-place Michigan. Needing a big finish to win the Cup, the Longhorns won three national championships and finished runner-up in three more sports, earning 770 points and ending the year with 1449.50 total points, beating Stanford by nearly 100.
“We did it in historic fashion and will raise the cup in back-to-back years to boot,” said Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte in his Forty Acres Insider newsletter on June 21. “I’m so proud for our great university, student-athletes, coaches and staff.”
Here’s a look at the four Texas teams that won national championships during an accomplished year for the Longhorns that also saw 10 top-two NCAA finishes:
Men’s Indoor Track & Field (Winter)
The men’s track and field team capped off a historic season with its first-ever national championship. The Longhorns were trending in the right direction at the right time, beating out the competition to take first in the Big 12 Indoor Championships to start off the postseason.
The Longhorns carried their momentum into the NCAA Indoor Championships by winning the title with a total score of 47. Texas dominated the events led by juniors Leo Neugebauer and Marcellus Moore, seniors Jonathan Jones and Willington Wright and graduate student Adrian Piperi.
Women’s Rowing (Spring)
Coming off of a national championship last year, the women’s rowing team looked to become the first to win back-to-back titles since Ohio State in 2015. The Longhorns earned sweeps of No. 4 Princeton, No. 13 SMU and No. 18 Rutgers along the way.
After winning their seventh-straight Big 12 Championship, the Texas women turned their attention to the NCAA Championships in Sarasota, Florida. The finals turned out to be a tight contest as Texas and Stanford were locked at 124 points apiece. But because the Longhorns won in the First Eight, they took home the trophy, creating an edge over Stanford in the Cup standings.
“It was an absolute awesome performance by everyone,” head coach Dave O’Neill said May 29. “I’m so proud of everyone on this team.”
Women’s Tennis (Spring)
Women’s tennis began the season ranked No. 1 after winning the national championship in 2021. Expectations were high, but the Longhorns stumbled out of the gate early in the season, losing three out of four matches at one point.
The Longhorns started to peak towards the end of the season, winning 13 of the last 14 matches en route to the Big 12 Championship. In the NCAA Team Championships, the Longhorns ripped through the Austin regional before taking down No. 5 Virginia, No. 1 North Carolina and No. 2 Oklahoma in consecutive matches to repeat as national champions.
“Obviously, back-to-back is improbable. Winning is improbable,” head coach Howard Joffe said May 23. “If you had seen the fall we had, if you had seen our team in January and February, I’d sooner buy a lottery ticket and cash that than our team be here, let alone win it.”
Men’s Golf (Spring)
Competing at the Arizona N.I.T. in March, Texas found itself tied for fifth heading into the final round of play. After a rough start to the season, the Longhorns desperately needed to right the ship. Senior Parker Coody shot a career-best 8-under 64 to help leverage the Longhorns to a second-place finish behind Big 12 rival Oklahoma State.
From there, the Longhorns went on to place first in the next two events before finishing third at the Big 12 Championship.
The Longhorns then headed to Scottsdale, Arizona to compete at the NCAA Championship. In the final three rounds, Texas beat Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt and Arizona State to secure the team’s fourth national championship, led by seniors Parker Coody, Pierceson Coody and Cole Hammer and juniors Travis Vick and Mason Nome.
