BYU Athletics is ranked No. 6 in the nation in the 2023 Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup Final Division I Fall Standings released on Thursday.

BYU finished in the Top-5 of the fall standings in the previous four years of competition. Two years ago, BYU was first in the fall standings for the first time in the history of the Directors’ Cup.

The Directors’ Cup annually ranks college athletic programs around the country by awarding points based on each institution’s finish in NCAA Championships. Preliminary standings are released following the fall and winter athletic seasons and lead up to the release of a final ranking following the spring season.

BYU’s No. 6 finish in the fall standings ranks the Cougars among some of the nation’s best collegiate athletic programs.

The Cougars’ fall sports combined to generate 279.50 points this year. Men’s cross country recorded 85 points, the most points of any BYU fall sports, following a third-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Women’s soccer also finished its season in third-place in the country, generating 83 points. Top-20 national finishes for women’s cross country and women’s volleyball received 61.5 and 50 points, respectively.

The winter Directors’ Cup rankings will be released in April.

BYU women’s volleyball adds four newcomers

BYU women’s volleyball head coach Heather Olmstead has announced the addition of four newcomers to the Cougars’ program.

Transfer libero/defensive specialist Kaieva Johnson will join three members of the Cougars’ 2024 recruiting class on campus during BYU’s winter semester: outside hitter Blaykli Bobik, setter Alex Bower and middle blocker Abby Hoybjerg.

Johnson is a 5-foot-8 sophomore out of Riverton, Utah who comes to Provo after playing one season at the University of Utah. The libero/defensive specialist recorded 63 digs in 21 matches played for the Utes, also recording eight assists and three service aces.

A six-foot-one outside hitter from Queen Creek, Arizona, Bobik was named to the 2024 PrepVolleyball Top 150 recruit list, as well as the outlet’s SCVA all-tournament team in 2023. The Queen Creek High School graduate was also a 2023 PrepVolleyball 17U club All-American.

Bower hails from Nampa, Idaho and is a four-time Idaho state champion at Skyview High School who has never lost to an Idaho team during her four-year career. The five-foot-eleven setter is a four-time all-state honoree and two-time PrepVolleyball and MaxPreps All-American, as well as the 2023 Idaho Gatorade Player of the Year.

A 6-foot-2 middle blocker from El Dorado Hills, California, Hoybjerg is a 2021 PrepVolleyball Top 150 recruit. She has been invited to the Under Armour All-American Camp twice, and is a two-time CIF section champion at Oak Ridge High School.

The Cougars’ spring 2024 scrimmage schedule will be announced at a later date.

Cougar swimming sweeps weekly awards

Following standout performances at the FIU Sprint Invite on Jan. 5, BYU swimmers swept the Big 12 Conference’s weekly awards the league announced on Wednesday.

Luigi Riva and Tahis Ibáñez were awarded, respectively, Big 12 Men’s and Women’s Swimmer of the Week, while Joseph Pyon was named Men’s Newcomer of the Week and Annie Reichner Women’s Newcomer of the Week.

BYU is now tied with TCU for second in the conference with nine combined men’s and women’s weekly awards this season.

Riva won the first round and semifinal of the 50 free before finishing off the meet with a win at 20.55 in the final. The junior from Milan, Italy racked up 60 points for the meet after clocking 45.30 to win the 100 free as well. Riva follows Jordan Tiffany as the BYU’s second Big 12 Men’s Swimmer of the Week.

Ibáñez entered the meet as the No. 13-seed in the women’s 50 fly with an entry time of 26.79. By meet’s end, Ibáñez had improved her time through each round of competition and defeated Florida International’s Oumy Diop in the final with a personal best 25.66. The sophomore from Rexburg, Idaho claimed the Cougars’ second Big 12 Women’s Swimmer of the Week award after Emma Marusakova did so on Oct. 18.

A freshman from Gainesville, Florida, Pyon made the most of his home state return with a run to the 50 fly semifinal and win in the 100 fly. Pyon recorded a personal best 21.83 in the opening round of the 50 fly then a winning 50.21 in the 100 fly. With Pyon’s recognition, the Cougars have now garnered three Big 12 Men’s Newcomer of the Week awards.

Reichner delivered the BYU women’s third win of the meet in the 50 back. After finishing second in the first three rounds, Reichner sliced 0.4 seconds off her quarterfinal time to win the event at 26.83, narrowly edging FIU’s Diana Santamaria at 26.84. Reichner is the first BYU women’s swimmer to win Big 12 Women’s Newcomer of the Week.

BYU swimming continues its season in a tri-meet with Denver and Wyoming in Denver, Colorado on Jan. 12-13.

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