Denison Captures Unprecedented Eighth Consecutive NCAC All-Sports Championship

After a record-setting year in which 16 of the college's 22 varsity sports earned top-three finishes in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings, Denison University cruised to its eighth consecutive and ninth overall NCAC All-Sports Championship.

Denison amassed 177 points to outdistance the field of nine other institutions which make up the NCAC. Denison's point total this year was the second-highest score ever posted in the annual competition, after DU set the scoring record in 2000 with a 179-point performance. In addition, Denison's 20-point margin of victory over runner-up Ohio Wesleyan this year was the third highest in the 21-year history of the award.

In 1999 Denison won the trophy by a record 28.5 points over second-place Allegheny College, and the following year DU defeated Ohio Wesleyan by 21.5 points.

The final 2004-05 NCAC All-Sports standings are as follows: 1. Denison (177 points); 2. Ohio Wesleyan (157); 3. Wooster (149); 4. Allegheny (144); 5. Wittenberg (141.5); 6. Kenyon (125); 7. Oberlin (91); 8. Earlham (66.5); 9. Hiram (65); and 10. Wabash (57).

During the 2004-05 academic year, Denison earned conference team championships in women's cross country and women's tennis while posting nine runner-up finishes in baseball, women's basketball, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, women's soccer, men's swimming and diving, women's swimming and diving, men's tennis, and women's indoor track and field. Contributing with third-place finishes were men's basketball, men's cross country, golf, men's soccer, and women's outdoor track and field.

The NCAC All-Sports Trophy is awarded annually to the school that performs the best across the NCAC's 22 sports. The goal of the program is to recognize broad-based athletic excellence, and Denison took the conference standard to new heights in 2004-05 with 21 of 22 sports placing among the top five in the 10-school league.

In calculating the standings, the NCAC awards 10 points for a first-place team finish, 9 for a second, 8 for a third, and so on. Men's and women's scores are combined, exemplifying the North Coast's commitment to equity and balance among programs. After the conference's founding in 1984-85, Wooster won three of the first four All-Sports championships, interrupted only by Denison in 1985-86. Ohio Wesleyan followed with a six-year championship run, leading to two more titles for Wooster and one for Wittenberg. In 1997-98, Denison began its current eight-year All-Sports championship streak.