After the conclusion of fall sports the Lee University Athletic department comes in at No. 14 in the Learfield Directors' Cup standings for the overall best NCAA D2 Athletic Program in the nation.
Lee was bolstered by a South Region Championship from the men's cross country team and a second place finish for the women. At nationals, the Flames finished 28th and the Lady Flames completed their run in 31st.
Women's Soccer also garnered big points for Lee Athletics as they advanced all the way to the Sweet 16 for the first time since joining the NCAA.
The Lady Flames defeated Florida Tech, 2-0 and Nova Southeastern in penalty kicks to advance to the quarterfinals before losing in a shootout to West Florida.
Lee is the highest ranked Gulf South Conference School. Alabama Huntsville was the only other program in the conference to crack the Top 50 so far this season, coming in at No. 44.
The Flames have moved up 26 spots from this point last season. Lee experienced its highest Director's Cup finish in just their second season of NCAA eligibility last year when they finished 44th.
"Since joining the NCAA, our teams have become very competitive and are enjoying quite a bit of success in regional and national play. Once again our fall sports did extremely well scoring more points in the Director's Cup than we did a year ago," said Lee Athletic Director Larry Carpenter. "Our goal is to improve each year and we have done that finishing 153rd and 44th the past two years. We know that our winter and spring sports will have to play well for us to once again move up in the rankings. It is an honor to be listed as one of the top teams in D2 and it is due to the hard work of our coaches and student athletes."
The Learfield Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in NCAA Championships.