Stanford wins award for nation’s top athletic program

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: Christian McCaffrey #5 of the Stanford Cardinal reacts after a run in the 102nd Rose Bowl Game against the Iowa Hawkeyes on January 1, 2016 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) less PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: Christian McCaffrey #5 of the Stanford Cardinal reacts after a run in the 102nd Rose Bowl Game against the Iowa Hawkeyes on January 1, 2016 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. ... more Photo: Sean M. Haffey, Getty Images Photo: Sean M. Haffey, Getty Images Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Stanford wins award for nation’s top athletic program 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

For the 22nd consecutive year, Stanford has won the Learfield Sports Division I Directors’ Cup as the top overall athletic program in the nation.

The Cardinal also dominated the Capital One Cup — which splits men’s and women’s sports into separate categories — but in a switch, the men’s side of the program outperformed the women. Stanford’s men won their portion of the Capital One Cup for the first time since the award was established in 2010. The women finished second.

The Cardinal have dominated the Directors Cup almost since its advent in 1994. North Carolina won it that school year, but Stanford has won it every year since then. It has been sponsored by Learfield Sports the past seven years; previously it was sponsored by Sears.

The final tabulation will be announced this week after the College World Series is decided. Stanford (1,526.50 points) finished well ahead of Ohio State. Ohio State has 1,303.50 points and third-place Michigan has 1,196.75. Cal is 11th with 966.

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Points for both the men and women are awarded based on a school’s national finish in each sport.

The Capital One Cup was established mainly as a response to Stanford’s domination of the Directors’ Cup. In addition to splitting the sports into men’s and women’s standings, it gives three times as many points to the more visible sports, rather than equal weight to all sports as the Directors’ Cup does.

With a big boost from its national title in soccer, its third-place finish in football and its runner-up spot in gymnastics, Stanford finished with 126 points in the men’s Capital One Cup to 108 for runner-up North Carolina. Cal tied for 22nd.

In the women’s Capital One Cup, Stanford finished second to USC. The Cardinal women won a national title in tennis and were runners-up in water polo, golf and swimming. The women have won that award twice.

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald