(Tucson, AZ) Kim Doss
Since the end of the school year, Pima Athletics has celebrated the successes and awards won by their athletes throughout 2017-18. After a month of honoring the student-athletes who were named Academic All-Americans, Pima turned to recognizing the entire department for its success in the National Alliance of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA) Cup standings. The college finished the year tied for 24th in its division.
Pima College among the top 25 two-year colleges last year
Standings in the NATYCAA Cup are based on the success of an institution’s teams in national championship competitions. Pima earned a total of 54 points from national championship appearances by men’s basketball, men’s soccer, men’s golf, and both men’s and women’s cross country, tennis, and track and field teams. The women’s golf team also sent two individual athletes to nationals.
Pima’s highest ranking in the NATYCAA Cup was 5th in 2015-16. Although they finished 44th last year, the college has been ranked in the top 29 every other year since 2008-09.
Most colleges that finish in the top 25 of the NATYCAA Cup are able to offer dorms to their students. This can be an advantage when recruiting out-of-state student-athletes. Of the 23 colleges that finished ahead of Pima in this year’s standings, 19 offered such accommodations.
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The NATYCAA honors colleges in three divisions: the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Scholarship Division, the NJCAA Non-Scholarship Division, and the State Associations Division. Pima was recognized in the NJCAA Scholarship Division.
Other Arizona colleges recognized in the same division were 7th-ranked Central Arizona College and 12th-ranked Mesa Community College. The winner of the division was Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
For four-year colleges and universities, the overall success of an athletic department culminates in rankings in the Learfield Directors’ Cup, which is awarded by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). For two-year colleges, such departmental success is recognized by both the NACDA and the NATYCAA. The NATYCAA announced their year-end rankings on June 19th.
