Trojan Athletics Earns Top 10 Spot in the NATYCCA CUP

At the annual June convention, the National Alliance of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCCA) announced the final standings in the prestigous Daktronics and Learfield Cups.  The Trojans finished 10th in the State Association Division and 19th in the Learfield Directors Cup.  

Over the past eight years, the Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) and it's member schools have been competing against institutions from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) with the goal of winning the NATYCAA Cup in the State Associations Division and the coveted Learfield Cup. 

The NATYCAA Cup, now sponsored by Daktronics recognizes program excellence in two-year college athletics based on success in championship competition.  The State Associations Division is comprised of the 146 two-year colleges that compete in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California as part of the NWAC and CCCAA.  

The Learfield Sports Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. The 660+ NATYCAA members of the NJCAA, NWAC, and CCAAA are stacked against eachother, with the winner being crowned as having the most competitive program in the country.

Colleges earn points based on their performance in each division's end of the season championship events. The winners of each championship earn 20 points, second-place finishes earn 19 points, third-place finishers receive 18 points, etc. Colleges use their top-five sports finishes per gender to accumulate points toward their division's cup standings. First, second and third-place awards are presented at NATYCAA's Annual Convention in June.

This year Trojan Athletics was led by Men's Basketball's 2nd place finish, Men's Soccer's trip to the final four, Softball's top 6 finish, and Baseball and Volleyball's finish in the top 12.  The Trojans scored 119 points, resulting in the programs highest ever finish since the inception of the NATYCCA Cup in 2004.  EvCC's 10th place finish in the State Associations Division was four points behind fellow NWAC institution Community Colleges of Spokane and 22 points behind Lane CC, the highest finishing NWAC school at 144 points.  This year's State Association winner was Mt. San Antonio CC of Walnut California who scored 180.5 points.  

The Trojans' 119 points was good enough for 19th in the Learfield Directors Cup Standing which combines the State Associations Division with the NJCAA's Scholarship Division and Non-Scholarship Division.  This is the highest finish in the history of the Learfield Cup which was awarded to Mt. San Antonio CC who beat out defending champion Iowa Western by five and a half points.