GRANVILLE, Ohio (May 17, 2024) – Denison University has won four outright league titles in women’s golf, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse and men’s tennis, shared the league title with Wittenberg in baseball and posted 16 additional finishes among the five firsts during 2023-24 academic years to win their fifth consecutive and league-leading fifth North Coast Athletic Conference overall sports championship.
In addition to Denison’s five championship titles, the Big Red posted five second-place finishes in field hockey, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, softball and women’s tennis and one runner-up appearance in football. Denison also added two third-place finishes in men’s soccer and men’s outdoor track and field to cement his position at the top of the standings with a total of 202.5 points.
DePauw, who won three All-Sports titles, was second in the final standings behind Denison with 196 points. The Tigers have achieved top-five finishes in 18 sports championships. Wittenberg placed third with 192.5 points after recording 17 top-five finishes. Ohio Wesleyan finished fourth in the final standings with 172 points after earning 13 top-five finishes. Wooster placed fifth with 162.5 points after 17 top-five finishes, while Kenyon finished sixth overall with 155 points and 10 top-five finishes. Oberlin finished seventh with 129 total points, which included 10 top-five finishes, while Wabash finished eighth with 93.5 points, with nine top-five finishes in 11 boys sports. Hiram finished ninth overall with 72 total points and two top-four finishes.
Denison ranked fourth overall after the fall sports season and third behind Wittenberg and DePauw after the winter season. In the end, Denison won five of 10 NCAC championships in the spring season and finished just 6.5 points ahead of DePauw in second place and 10 points ahead of Wittenberg in third place.
In the men’s final standings, Denison placed first with 97.5 points, while Wabash placed second with 93.5 points and Wittenberg placed third with 88.5 points. In the women’s standings, DePauw placed first with 115.0 points, while Big Red placed second with 105.0 points and Wittenberg was just one point behind with 104 points.
The All-Sports champion wins the Dennis M. Collins All-Sports Trophy, awarded annually to the best-performing school in the NCAC’s 23 sports. Eleven points are awarded for first place, ten for second, nine for third, and so on. The performances of men and women are combined, exemplifying North Coast’s commitment to equity and balance between programs. Wooster won three of the first four All-Sports championships, interrupted only by Denison as a sophomore. Ohio Wesleyan followed with a six-year run, leading to titles from Wooster (twice), Wittenberg (once), Denison (nine), OWU (twice) and then a tie between Denison and OWU in 2009. Wittenberg won its second All-Sports title in 2010, followed by Denison in 2011 and DePauw in 2012. Denison then won back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014, before DePauw regained the championship in 2015. The Big Red regained the title after the academic 2015-16 year, followed by DePauw in 2017, before Denison once again won back-to-back titles the following two years. An all-sports trophy was not awarded in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Big Red then secured the 2022 and 2023 titles to collect the last four trophies.
Denison leads the way with 176 team championships during the NCAC’s 40 seasons of play. Ohio Wesleyan is next with 161 titles, followed by Kenyon (141), Wittenberg (123), Wooster (85), DePauw (45), Wabash (35), Oberlin (26) and Hiram (2).
Official launch of NCAC
