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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 The Jacksonville University athletic department recorded its highest finish in 19 years as part of the Learfield Directors’ Cup<\/a>, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) recently announced.<\/p>\n The Learfield Directors’ Cup serves as the preeminent measuring stick across all of college athletics to determine how successful an athletic department was on the playing surface during a school year. Across the 2025-26 year, Jacksonville finished with its second-best overall season in Directors’ Cup point totals, trailing just the 2006-07 school year across the 32-year history<\/a>\u00a0of the award. The Dolphins’ final finish and point total was also the best ever under Athletic Director and Senior Vice President Alex Ricker-Gilbert<\/a>.<\/p>\n “2025-2026 was a tremendous year for Jacksonville Athletics across the board,” Ricker-Gilbert said. “Our student-athletes, coaches and staff have gone above and beyond to set new standards for what it means to be a Dolphin. I am so incredibly proud of all we accomplished this year athletically, as well as in the classroom, and cannot wait to see what lies ahead for this university and its athletic programs.”<\/p>\n Across the mid-major landscape, Jacksonville’s placement was 15th overall among non-football playing schools and 61st among mid-majors.\u00a0The Dolphins finished as the highest current member of the Atlantic Sun, and tied overall with the Sun Belt’s Southern Mississippi<\/p>\n Schools generate points in the Directors’ Cup standings based on final finishes by fall, winter and spring sports. Jacksonville generated 125.0 total points, led by its four conference champions in women’s basketball, women’s lacrosse, men’s lacrosse and women’s rowing. The university’s final Directors’ Cup point total was just the third time in school history JU eclipsed 100 points.<\/p>\n The highest individual point earner was the men’s lacrosse team, which earned the program’s first conference title and finished ninth in the entire nation\u00a0after defeating Robert Morris in the NCAA Tournament. Head coach John Galloway’s program generated a school-best 45 points towards JU’s total.<\/p>\n Women’s basketball earned points during the winter season behind the program’s second-ever conference tournament title and second trip to the Big Dance. Women’s lacrosse also earned points after its 10th conference tournament championship. Women’s rowing grabbed points for earning the MAAC championship crown for the ninth time in program history.<\/p>\n Success athletically was not all the Dolphins were known for this past year, as academically, Jacksonville shattered its previous grade point average (GPA) records in the classroom. Across the school’s 19 athletic teams, Jacksonville earned a 3.54 GPA. For the fifth consecutive season,\u00a0and sixth year of the last seven, the Dolphins set a new highest GPA mark,\u00a0all of which have come under the stewardship of Ricker-Gilbert.<\/p>\n All 19 of the school’s teams achieved above a 3.0 and for the first time ever, 12 teams earned a 3.50 or higher.\u00a0<\/p>\n Learfield is the nation’s leader in college athletics media and has been the title sponsor of the Directors’ Cup since 2008. Complete standings and scoring structure can be viewed on the NACDA website, www.directorscup.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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