CLEVELAND— With fall sports championships in the rearview mirror, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) provided an update regarding the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup standings. As the calendar turns from 2025 to 2026, Montreat College Athletics enters the new year at No. 38 out of 118 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) institutions.
 
Ranking second among Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) full-time members, the Cavaliers captured 108 points overall. Fifty-five of those points came via the Montreat College women's cross country team's 19^th-place finish at the 2025 NAIA Cross Country Championship. The Montreat College men's cross country squad tallied the other 53 points thanks to its 21^st-place showing at the national meet.
 
Known as the crowning achievement in collegiate athletics, the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup honors institutions maintaining broad-based departments that attain national success in both men's and women's sports. The LEARFIELD Directors' Cup ranks the top athletic department in the country at each level of competition—NCAA Division I, Division II and Division III and NAIA—based on postseason accomplishments.
 
To earn points in the standings, an institution must have teams competing at national championship events or tournaments. Not only do appearances on the national stage garner attention, but the level of performance while at national events also contributes to the number of points gained in the standings.
 
For the official NACDA release, click here. To view the complete LEARFIELD Directors' Cup NAIA standings, click here.