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The College of Wooster's runner-up finish in the race for the North Coast Athletic Conference's Dennis M. Collins All-Sports Trophy marked the top showing by the Fighting Scots in over two decades, as the Black and Gold were edged out by Denison University by a mere three points. The NCAC made the announcement of its year-end all-sports standings on Thursday morning.
Wooster finished with 162.5 points in what marked the Scots' first runner-up finish since the 1997-98 academic year. Wooster last claimed a spot in the top three during the 2004-05 academic year.
Wooster, a five-time winner (1984-85, 1986-87, 1987-88, 1994-95, 1996-97) of the Dennis M. Collins All-Sports Trophy, had 21 of its 23 varsity sports place in the top five in the NCAC this year. Those performances were headlined by the Scots' nationally-prominent baseball and men's basketball teams, which won their conference-leading 19th and 18th championships, respectively. In fact, the 80.5 points accumulated by Wooster's 11 varsity men's teams was the most in the conference, and all of them placed within the top five in the league.
On the women's side, Wooster tallied a quartet of second-place showings (field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball). Three of those teams (field hockey, lacrosse, soccer) went on to play in the championship game of the NCAC Tournament with soccer winning the tourney crown for the first time in program history. Overall, Wooster's 82 women's points were third-best among the nine member institutions.
Men's cross country, men's indoor track & field, men's outdoor track & field, and women's indoor track & field rounded out the top-three conference finishers for the Scots this past academic year.
Denison won its league-leading 17th all-sports trophy, while DePauw University (155.5), Ohio Wesleyan University (140), and Kenyon College (136) rounded out the top five.