MCLEAN, Va., June 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a highly competitive spring championship season, Stanford University's women's athletics program clinched the 2014-2015 Capital One Cup trophy; the third time they have achieved this title. In recognition of this outstanding achievement, the Cardinal women's athletic department will receive $200,000 toward student-athlete scholarships and be honored at The ESPYS on July 15. In its fifth year, the Capital One Cup honors NCAA^® Division I athletics programs for their cumulative on-field performance across multiple men's and women's sports.

Stanford's women's athletic department soared to the top due to national championships in water polo and golf, a second-place finish in volleyball, third-place finishes in soccer and swimming and diving, and top-10 finishes in fencing, field hockey, gymnastics, rowing and indoor track and field. At the end of the season the Cardinal women earned a total of 136.5 points, enough to hold off second and third-place finishers the University of Florida and Penn State University. Competition remained close all year, with Florida – last year's Capital One Cup champion – on Stanford's heels at the end of the season.  In the end all focus was on outdoor track and field, where Oregon's win helped solidify the Cardinal as this year's Capital One Cup recipient.

"We are incredibly proud of our women's athletics program for the exceptional achievement on being this year's Capital One Cup champions," said Stanford University Jaquish & Kenninger Athletics Director Bernard Muir. "We want to commend our female student-athletes, coaches and staff for bringing home the Capital One Cup trophy and for their hard work and dedication as they represented our institution well all year long. On behalf of Stanford University, we would like to thank Capital One for its support of college athletics."

Competition for the Capital One Cup

Competition for the Capital One Cup has been fierce all season, and women's athletic departments across the country turned this into a tight race. 

• Florida finished second, 5.5 points behind Stanford, due in part to national championships in gymnastics and softball, as well as top-10 finishes in both indoor and outdoor track & field, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis and volleyball.
• Penn State'svolleyball title and top-10 finishes in fencing, field hockey, lacrosse, and soccer boosted them to a third-place finish in the standings.
• Rounding out the top-10 were Florida State University (4), University of Maryland (5), University of Oregon (6), University of North Carolina (7), University of Connecticut (8), Texas A&M University (9) and UCLA (10).

Below are the official Capital One Cup women's final standings for the 2014-2015 season, with the top-10 point earners in women's Division I athletics listed.

"As always the race to the women's Capital One Cup trophy has been close. The Stanford women should be incredibly proud of clinching this coveted title for the third time," said Brandi Chastain, Capital One Cup Advisory Board member, two-time Women's World Cup Champion and former member of the U.S. women's national soccer team. "It was exciting to watch the season unfold. Stanford's championships in Water Polo and Golf were key to this victory, but strong finishes in several other sports, including soccer, propelled them to the top."

"We extend our congratulations to the Stanford University women's athletics program for 2014-2015 Capital One Cup win," said Marc Mentry, Senior Vice President, Capital One. "The Cardinal stood strong through a close race; their focus and perseverance made for an exciting finish, which was on display during their come from behind Golf championship. We look forward to celebrating their win alongside the world's best athletes at The ESPYS next month."

Highlights from the Capital One Cup during the 2014-2015 women's athletics season include:

• Stanford came from behind on the 19^th hole to beat Baylor and secure its first national championship in women's golf
• Florida won its second ever NCAA^® softball championship after making it to the Women's College World Series seven times in the last eight seasons
• Maryland overcame the biggest halftime deficit in women's lacrosse championship history to capture its 12th national championship and second consecutive title
• Penn State continued to dominate women's volleyball, taking home its seventh NCAA^® national championship
• Vanderbilt defeated UCLA in a 4-2 victory, earning its first-ever national women's tennis title
• Florida earned its third consecutive women's gymnastics national championship, beating out Utah for the title
• Combined, 97 schools earned points in the Capital One Cup women's standings

About the Capital One Cup

Schools earn points based on their teams' top-10 finishes in NCAA Division I championships and in final official coaches' polls across 20 women's and 19 men's sports as they compete to win the Capital One Cup trophy and a combined $400,000 in scholarships for student-athletes.

The Capital One Cup men's winning athletics program will be announced after the conclusion of the NCAA® College World Series® in late June. Coming down to the wire, a top finish by the University of Virginia would propel them ahead of the current leader Oregon, making for a close race to finish the Men's Capital One Cup.  

To view the current men's standings and the final women's standings, please visit www.CapitalOneCup.com. Fans can join in on the conversation at Facebook.com/CapitalOne and Twitter.com/CapitalOne.

About Capital One

Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A., and Capital One Bank (USA), N.A., had $210.4 billion in deposits and $306.2 billion in total assets as of March 31, 2015. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has branches located primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.

Capital One, an NCAA Corporate Champion, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the Capital One Bowl (formerly the Florida Citrus Bowl) in 2001. Since that time, Capital One has sponsored programs including the Capital One Mascot Challenge and Capital One Academic All-America Program. In 2010, it created the Capital One Cup to recognize the best men's and women's Division 1 College Athletics Programs in the country and awards a combined $400,000 in student-athlete scholarships. As an NCAA Corporate Champion, Capital One supports all 89 NCAA Championships. In 2014, Capital One became an official sponsor of the Capital One Orange Bowl and the new College Football Playoff.

NCAA and CWS are trademarks owned or licensed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.  All other licenses or trademarks are property of their respective holders.

Contact: Alli Sherman
Alli.Sherman@capitalone.com

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SOURCE Capital One

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