The Lindenwood athletics department has moved up to third-place in the final winter standings for the 2007-08 NAIA U.S. Sports Academy Directors’ Cup Standings. The Directors’ Cup, which is sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), is the top competition for overall athletics departments in the NAIA.

Lindenwood currently has 546.5 points, 72 points behind leader Azusa Pacific and 71.5 points behind second-place Simon Fraser. Rounding out the top-five are Concordia (Calif.) with 481.5 points and Northwestern (Iowa) with 473.5 points.

Lindenwood scored in five of the seven NAIA Championships during the winter season. The program was led by the wrestling team which earned 100 points for winning the national championship. Other finishes were fourth by the men’s swimming team (80 points), seventh by the women’s swimming team (69), 19^th by the men’s indoor track and field team (47.5), and 31^st by the women’s track and field team (42).

The Lions and Lady Lions were in eighth-place after the fall standings. Lindenwood scored points in men’s cross country (85), football (25), men’s soccer (25) and women’s volleyball (73) during that season.

Lindenwood has finished second in the Directors’ Cup standings for the last three school years. The athletics department has had nine straight top-five finishes in the competition, including winning the Directors’ Cup in 2001-02 and 2002-03.