General | 4/7/2020 9:49:54 AM
St. John Fisher College won its first-ever Empire 8 Commissioner’s Cup for the 2019-20 season, as announced by the league on Tuesday, April 7. The Cardinals, who sponsor 12 of the 14 sports included, totaled 72 points out of a possible 85, good for a percentage of .847. Nazareth College finished second overall with a .784 points percentage (69.75 points out of a possible 89), while Utica College was third overall with a .616 points percentage.
The Commissioner’s Cup recognizes department-wide success across all athletic programs and measures success based on results throughout the academic year. The standings are determined by each members' standings in conference sports following the regular season and post-season. Scores were recorded through the conclusion of the winter sports season. Spring sports were not included due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as the Empire 8 canceled the remainder of its sports season on March 12.
The Cardinals enjoyed an incredible winter season, winning all four league championships that they competed in (men’s and women’s indoor track and men’s and women’s basketball), while earning 27.5 out of a possible 28 points. In addition, St. John Fisher won the women’s tennis and women’s volleyball titles in the fall and finished with an overall percentage total of 0.847 to lead all Empire 8 institutions. St. John Fisher’s women’s tennis, women’s volleyball and women’s track and field championships were its first in program history.
Nazareth, who held the Empire 8 Commissioner’s Cup lead after the fall season, won both men’s and women’s swimming championships and finished as runner-up in men’s basketball during the winter. The Golden Flyers also won the men’s soccer championship in fall. Nazareth’s men’s swimming and diving title was its first in program history. Overall, the Golden Flyers recorded a percentage point total of 0.784 through the winter season.
Utica College placed third overall, with a percentage total of 0.616 on the strength of its first women’s soccer championship in the fall to go along with runner-up finishes in both men’s and women’s indoor track and field and top-three finishes in men’s and women’s basketball. Houghton College made the highest jump from 2018-19 to 2019-20, moving from seventh last year to fourth overall with a percentage total of 0.549. Hartwick College rounded out the top five with a percentage total of 0.503. Houghton won its first Empire 8 title in any sport, women’s cross country, in the fall, while Hartwick earned the 2019 field hockey title.
The Sage Colleges jumped up from an eighth place finish in 2018-19 to a sixth place finish in 2019-20 (.489 percentage total), while Alfred University and Elmira College rounded out the final two spots.
Commissioner’s Cup points are awarded based on each team's finish in the Empire 8 conference 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 its 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 their overall percentage.
The final Empire 8 Commissioner’s Cup standings and league champions for 2019-20 are listed below.
2019-20 Final Empire 8 Commissioner’s Cup Standings ^
| Standings |
Actual |
Possible |
Percentage |
| SJFC |
72 |
85 |
0.84705882 |
| Nazareth |
69.75 |
89 |
0.78370787 |
| Utica |
57.25 |
93 |
0.6155914 |
| Houghton |
44.5 |
81 |
0.54938272 |
| Hartwick |
43.25 |
86 |
0.50290698 |
| Sage |
33.75 |
69 |
0.48913043 |
| Alfred |
34.5 |
86 |
0.40116279 |
| Elmira |
16.5 |
62 |
0.26612903 |
^ Spring sports were not included, as the league canceled the remainder of the 2019-20 season on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2019-20 Empire 8 Champions
Fall
Men’s Cross Country: Utica
Women’s Cross Country: Houghton
Field Hockey: Hartwick
Football: The College at Brockport/SUNY Cortland (Co-Champions and affiliate members in football)
Men’s Soccer: Nazareth
Women’s Soccer: Utica
Women’s Volleyball: St. John Fisher
Women’s Tennis: St. John Fisher
Winter
Men’s Basketball: St. John Fisher
Women’s Basketball: St. John Fisher
Men’s Indoor Track & Field: St. John Fisher
Women’s Indoor Track & Field: St. John Fisher
Men’s Swimming & Diving: Nazareth
Women’s Swimming & Diving: Nazareth
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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