CLEVELAND – Cal State San Marcos made its inaugural debut in the first Learfield Directors' Cup Division II (DII) standings released for the 2017-18 season, recently announced by The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). 
 
The Learfield Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. The Directors' Cup tracks the nation's most successful intercollegiate athletics program for their performances throughout the year.

"We were hoping to show an immediate impact upon receiving notification of official NCAA DII membership, this first DII Learfield ranking shows that CSUSM Athletics has achieved that," said Director of Athletics Jennifer Milo. "We are extremely proud of how our fall sports lead off this academic year."
 
Each institution receives points based on its national finish in up to 14 sports (seven men's and seven women's). The overall champion is the institution that records the highest number of points in their division's Directors' Cup standings at the end of the academic year.
 
This is CSUSM's first opportunity to be named to this list after being granted full NCAA DII status this past summer.
 
After an eighth-place finish from the women's cross-country team at the NCAA DII Cross Country National Championships, the Cougars garnered 70.5 total points. That point total represented the overall points for CSUSM in this edition of the standings.
 
CSUSM is second among the three California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) schools appearing on the list. Chico State ranks sixth overall with 149 total points while Cal poly Pomona stands in 36th place after totaling 58.5 points.
 
Eight schools from the West Region were represented in the standings. The Cougars rank fifth in the entire West Region behind only California Baptist (4th), Chico State (6th), Alaska Anchorage (15th), and Simon Fraser (17th).