June 24, 2000
LAS VEGAS -
Thanks to strong finishes by its spring sports programs, UNLV completed its 1999-00 athletics season among the top quarter of all NCAA Division-I schools and in the top three of the Mountain West Conference according to the just-released Sears Directors' Cup final standings.
Tabulated annually by Sears, Roebuck and Co. and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), the Sears Cup this year went to Stanford for the sixth consecutive season.
Buoyed by a sixth-place national finish in golf and a 34th-place NCAA finish by track and field, UNLV jumped 31 spots after the winter standings were released to finish 72nd among 324 schools. Other Rebel teams that scored points toward the Sears Cup competition this year were men's basketball, men's swimming & diving and women's swimming & diving.
Of the eligible colleges and universities in the NCAA Division I, a total of 261 (72 percent) scored points in this year's competition. UNLV, which improved 23 spots over last year's finish of 95, was third among Mountain West Conference schools, only trailing No. 18 Brigham Young and No. 54 Utah. Nevada, Reno tied San Diego State for 114th place overall.
With their three conference championships in 1999-00 (men's basketball, golf and women's tennis), the Rebels won the second-most team titles during the league's first year of existence, only trailing BYU.
UNLV also boasted a major increase in All-Americans on and off the field in 1999-00. No less than 12 student-athletes earned All-America status in eight different sports this season. The Rebels also had five Mountain West Conference athletes of the year in their respective sports, three MWC coach-of-the-year honorees, two freshmen of the year and one tournament most valuable player.
In the classroom, a school-record seven student-athletes earned national academic honors sponsored by GTE and voted on by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Three Rebels earned GTE Academic All-American status and four others were Academic All-District honorees.
FINAL 2000 SEARS DIRECTORS' CUP STANDINGS
Mountain West Conference
SCHOOL POINTS NCAA FINISH
BYU 658 18th
Utah 295 54th
UNLV 226.5 72nd
New Mexico 182.5 86th
Colorado State 166 92nd
San Diego State 130 114th
Wyoming 119.5 118th
Air Force 78 164th
UNLV 1999-00 ALL-AMERICANS (12)
PLAYER SPORT HONOR/EVENT ORG.
Jeremy Anderson Golf First Team GCAA
Michele Davis Women's Track 200 meters NCAA
400 meters NCAA
Lorena Diaconescu Women's Swimming 200-freestyle NCAA
Mark Dickel Men's Basketball Honorable Mention AP
Linda Fr?hlich Women's Basketball Honorable Mention AP
Racheal Goodpaster Softball Third Team NFCA
Michael Kirk Golf Third Team GCAA
Piotr Krzyskow Men's Swimming 200-freestyle relay NCAA
400-freestyle relay NCAA
Katarina Malec Women's Tennis First Team ITA
Michael Short Men's Swimming 200-freestyle relay NCAA
400-freestyle relay NCAA
Jacint Simon Men's Swimming 200-freestyle NCAA
200-freestyle relay NCAA
400-freestyle relay NCAA
Garrett Wood Men's Swimming 200-freestyle relay NCAA
400-freestyle relay NCAA
UNLV 1999-00 MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE AWARDS
ATHLETES OF THE YEAR (5)
Jeremy Anderson Golf
Lorena Diaconescu Women's Swimming
Linda Fr?hlich Women's Basketball
Katarina Malec Women's Tennis
Jacint Simon Men's Swimming
COACHES OF THE YEAR (3)
Bill Bayno Men's Basketball (Co)
Kevin Cory Women's Tennis
Jim Reitz Men's Swimming & Diving
TOURNAMENT MVP (1)
Mark Dickel Men's Basketball
FRESHMEN OF THE YEAR (2)
Dalron Johnson Men's Basketball (Co)
Whitney Phelps Women's Swimming
CoSIDA/GTE ACADEMIC HONOREES (7)
Charelle Ainslie (Softball) Third Team Academic All-America
Jeremy Anderson (Golf) First Team Academic All-America
Ryan Bledsoe (Soccer) First Team Academic All-America
Linda Fr?hlich (Women's BB) Third Team Academic All-District
John Greer (Football) First Team Academic All-District
Andrew Hooker (Soccer) Second Team Academic All-District
Katarina Malec (Women's Tennis) Second Team Academic All-District
