BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The University of Sioux Falls Athletics Department ranks sixth overall in the 2019-20 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference All-Sports standings through the fall sports season, according to an announcement by the league on Thursday, Dec. 4.

USF was sixth overall in the all sports standings with 43.5 points and just behind Winona State in fifth at 51 points. Leading the league points race was Augustana with 70.5 points followed by Concordia-St. Paul at 58.5 points. Following AU and CSP was Minnesota State at 57 points, Minnesota Duluth at 53 points followed by WSU and USF. In the NSIC Men's standings, USF was third with 24.5 points with Augustana first at 30 points and Minnesota State in second with 25 points. In the women's rankings, the Cougars sit 12th with 19 points. Augustana was first with 40.5 points.    

USF, which finished a program-best third in the final standings in 2018-19, was led by USF Men's Cross Country and USF Football which finished third in the NSIC this fall. Both also qualified for national championships.

In its eighth year in the NSIC, USF continues to make an impact in the NSIC and across NCAA DII with focused student-athletes and coaches building a series of team successes program-wide. USF has placed seventh or better every year with a program-best third this past year.

The NSIC All Sports Award is calculated by awarding the winner of each conference-sponsored championship points totaling the number of teams in that sport plus one. The next place finisher receives points totaling the number of teams less the number of places from first place. Ties in the standings at any level result in the totaling of points and equal distribution.

Fall Recap -
 
The Men's Cross Country squad, directed Head Coach Doug Petersen, advanced to the NCAA DIIs National for a third straight year and fifth time overall in eight years at DII. USF finished 23rd led by two-time All-American Mason Phillips who finished 59th.  USF, which was ranked as high as seventh nationally, finished fifth (146 points) at the NCAA DII Central Regional Championships as Phillips was fourth with a career-best finish in 30:17.08. After Phillips, senior Steven Brown was fifth in a PR of 30:18.66 while senior Zach Lundberg took 16th in 31:13.56. USF was third with 92 points at the NSIC Championships as Phillips was second while Lundberg finished fifth as both were first team All-NSIC. Senior Dan Armstrong was named second team All-NSIC. The Men's Team had nine Academic All-NSIC honorees with five named to the NSIC Academic Team of Excellence.

USF Women's Cross Country Team, directed by Head Coach Doug Petersen, had a second team All-NSIC honor from senior Montana Belford (20th). The Cougars took eighth with 239 points at the league championships. At the NCAA DII Central Regional, Belford moved up 46 spots from a year ago and finished 54th as USF was 16th with 540 points . As a result, USF was a spot higher in the region standings that a year ago. Also making the top 100 regional finishers was freshman Lauren Wells. Also for the USF WCC Team, eight individuals were Academic All-NSIC honorees with five named to the NSIC Academic Team of Excellence (3.6 GPA or higher).

In volleyball, Head Coach Joel McCartney's team was 11th overall in the NSIC with a 17-11 overall record and a 9-11 mark in league play. The Cougars opened 11-0 and earned a national ranking in the AVCA National Poll for the first time. USF opened at 24th and moved up to 19th in the AVCA poll. Seniors KaSandra Springer and Abby Feyereisen were named second team All-NSIC. In addition, the Cougars had six Academic All-NSIC honorees with both Feyereisen and Springer earning their third straight honor. Three USF student-athletes were named to the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence.

With Harlon Hill candidate Caden Walters (one of 36 nominees for the DII Player of the Year honor) leading the way, the USF Football Team advanced to the NCAA DII playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons. After a heart-breaking 24-21 playoff loss to No. 7 Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo., the Cougars, directed by third-year Head Coach Jon Anderson finished 8-4.  USF, which finished tied for third overall and third in the NSIC South, recorded a 26th straight winning season, which ranks fourth across all divisions. The Cougars placed two players (Walters and Nolan Kern) on the All-NSIC South Division first team and 12 overall. Nick Zimmerman was named CoSIDA Academic All-District. Also USF Football had 17 student-athletes named to the Academic All-NSIC Team with seven on the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence.

In soccer, Head Coach Brittany Domino, which had an honorable All-NSIC honoree in Lily McKown, was 13th with a 4-10-1 record in league play and 4-13-1 overall. USF had 12 student-athletes named Academic All-NSIC with seven selected to the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence.
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