Florida Gators

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A national title by the men's golf team and seven other top-10 national finishes led the University of Florida to a seventh-place finish in the 2000-01 Sears Directors' Cup national all-sports competition, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) announced.

Florida has ranked among the nation's 10 best collegiate athletic programs for 18 consecutive years. Florida and UCLA are the only schools to finish in the top 10 in national all-sports rankings every year since 1983-84.

The Sears Directors' Cup, presented annually by the nation's athletics directors, recognizes the schools with the best overall sports performances in an academic year.

Points awarded for an institution's finish in up to 20 sports determine the all-sports champion. Fielding 18 athletic teams, Florida finished seventh with 847 points. Stanford claimed the title with 1,359 points.

The Florida men's golf team won the school's 15th national title, including the seventh since 1992. UF has won at least one national championship in 12 of the last 20 years. Seven other Gator teams finished in the top 10 of their respective sports in 2000-01: Women's Tennis (T3rd); Men's Swimming & Diving (5th); Gymnastics (7th); Men's Indoor Track and Field (7th); Women's Swimming & Diving (8th); Volleyball (T9th); Football (10th).

Florida and Notre Dame were the only schools this past academic year to have its football team appear in a Bowl Championship Series Bowl game, have its men's and women's basketball team go to the NCAA Tournament and have its baseball team invited to NCAA tournament.

Florida also captured five Southeastern Conference Championships in 2000-01, raising its total to 60 since the 1990-91 academic year, the top total among league schools over that time span. UF won SEC crowns in men's basketball, football, soccer, women's tennis and volleyball.

Three Gators were part of NCAA Individual Championships and 64 UF student-athletes earned 131 All-America honors. Nick Gilliam captured the Men's NCAA Golf Championship, Rickey Harris captured the 400-meter indoor title, while Whitney Laiho and Jessica Lehnhoff claimed the NCAA Doubles Championships.

Earlier in May, the University of Florida captured the Southeastern Conference All-Sports title for the 10th consecutive year and for the 12th time in the last 14 tries. The Gators captured the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group SEC All-Sports title, finished first in the women's all-sports competition and third in the men's. Florida is the only school in SEC history to ever won both the men's and women's all-sports titles in the same academic year, pulling off the feat in 1992, 1993, 1996, 1998 and 2000.

Florida was also successful away from the athletic arena in 2000-01, earning a league record 133 Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll accolades. UF has had 1,279 Academic All-SEC honorees since 1980, tops in the league. Four UF student-athletes also earned spots on Verizon Academic All-America teams in 2000-01, giving the Gators 41 Academic All-Americans since 1992, the fourth highest total among Division I schools since 1992.

In addition, in an era when the NCAA estimates 70 percent of Division I schools are losing money on intercollegiate athletics, the Gator athletic program continued to have an impact in regard to University academic programs. Since 1990, the University Athletic Association has contributed more than $19.43 million to the University to fund academic endeavors.

Florida's athletic program also serves as a focal point for the surrounding community and beyond, as 8.4 million fans have filed through the gates to attend UF sporting events over the past eight years. More than 843,000 fans attended 152 home events in Gainesville in 2000-01 and four UF athletic teams ranked in the top-10 nationally in attendance.

University of Florida student-athletes have donated many hours to the Gainesville and surrounding communities. The "Goodwill Gators" program was recognized by the National Consortium of Academics and Sports and received the 1998 Outreach and Service Award.