Stevens Wins 2017-18 Commissioner Cup
Stevens Institute of Technology has won the Empire 8 Commissioner's Cup for the 2017-18 year; marking the first time in program history the Ducks have won the all-sports award.
Standings for the Commissioner's Cup are determined by schools' standings in conference sports at the end of the regular season and the post-season. Stevens, which sponsors 22 of the league's 24 sports, totaled 146.25 points out of a possible 164 – good for a percentage of .892.
Stevens claimed Empire 8 Championships in 10 different sports and runner-up in eight others to secure the Cup. The .892 percentage is the second highest total by any school in the history of the E8 Commissioner Cup. The highest percentage was .905 set by former Empire 8 member, Ithaca College, in 2015-16.
The Ducks had a strong showing across the board during the fall season to get the year started, as Stevens defended its title in women’s soccer, won men’s cross country for the first time ever, claimed the women's volleyball title for the fifth time in program history and won men’s soccer for the tenth time in 11 years.
Stevens won three more E8 titles during the winter season, which included men’s swimming, women’s basketball and women’s indoor track and field. The Ducks wrapped up the 2017-18 athletic year with an Empire 8 Championship in men’s volleyball, its ninth straight title in men’s tennis and its first title in men’s lacrosse since 2012.
St. John Fisher College finished in second place with a percentage of .791, totaling five championships and three second-place finishes throughout the year. The .791 percentage is the highest total for the Cardinals in any Commissioner Cup standing.
Fisher won the men’s indoor track and field championship for the second time since starting its program in 2011-12. But it was the spring season where the Cardinals truly excelled as they captured four conference titles.
Men's golf won its eighth straight E8 title and women's lacrosse won the championship for the seventh straight year. Softball won its second straight title and sixth overall in program history while the men’s outdoor track and field team reclaimed the title after winning back in 2015.
Finishing in third place (.626), sponsoring 22 conference sports, achieving three conference titles and two second-place finishes are the Nazareth College Golden Flyers.
The Golden Flyers won the women’s tennis title for the first time since 2002, finished second in women’s volleyball and competed in the E8 semifinals in men’s and women’s soccer. In the winter, Nazareth won the conference title in women’s swimming and diving for the first time ever and men’s basketball claimed the title for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
Nazareth’s best showing in the spring was in women’s lacrosse as the team qualified for the post season for the 15
th straight season.
Utica College earned a .548 percentage to place fourth in the final standings.
In the fall, the Pioneers won their first title ever in women’s cross country and finished as runner-up in field hockey. Men’s Basketball had a thrilling run in the post-season that resulted in a second-place finish due to a game winning shot in the final seconds.
The spring season saw the women’s track and field team capture the E8 title, while women’s lacrosse made the post-season for the first time since 2006 and softball returned to the tournament for the second time in three years.
Hartwick (.498), Houghton (.469) and Alfred (.452) are separated by .046 hundredths in the standings, while Sage (.385) and Elmira (.295) complete the standings.
Commissioner Cup points are awarded based on each team's finish in the Empire 8 standings at the completion of the regular season and post-season. Points are awarded on a scale dependent upon the number of schools that sponsor the sport (affiliate members are not calculated into the point scale). A team's regular season finish will be added to their post-season finish and divided by two for the final total for that sport. Teams tied for a position in the regular season standings are ranked based on tiebreaker scenarios. The actual amount of points earned is then divided by the amount of possible points for each school based on conference-sponsored sports to determine percentage.
| 2017 - 2018 Final Standings |
Percentage |
Actual Points |
Possible Points |
| Stevens |
.892 |
146.25 |
164 |
| St. John Fisher |
.790 |
128 |
162 |
| Nazareth |
.626 |
102 |
163 |
| Utica |
.548 |
91.5 |
167 |
| Hartwick |
.498 |
49.75 |
100 |
| Houghton |
.469 |
67 |
143 |
| Alfred |
.452 |
65.5 |
145 |
| Sage |
.385 |
47 |
122 |
| Elmira |
.295 |
39 |
132 |