Baseball | 6/30/2021 1:58:16 PM
St. John Fisher College won its second consecutive Empire 8 Commissioner’s Cup for the 2020-21 season, as announced by the league on Wednesday, June 30. The Cardinals, who sponsored and competed in all 19 sports where league champions were crowned in 2020-21, totaled 107.5 points out of a possible 118, good for a percentage of .911. Nazareth College finished second overall with a .741 points percentage (83.75 points out of a possible 113), while Utica College was third overall with a .597 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. This season, 19 sports that contested championship competition were included, as the Empire 8 was one of just a few Division III conferences across the country to play all three seasons.
The Cardinals won 11 of the league’s 19 championships in 2020-21 and finished with an overall percentage total of 0.911 to lead all Empire 8 institutions. St. John Fisher’s women’s cross country and women’s outdoor track and field championships were its first in program history.
Nazareth won its first Empire 8 men’s cross country and women’s basketball championships in program history, while also claiming the women’s tennis title and were runners-up in seven sports. Overall, the Golden Flyers recorded a percentage point total of 0.741.
Utica College placed third overall, with a percentage total of 0.597 on the strength of its first men’s basketball and men’s golf Empire 8 titles to go along with runner-up finishes in both baseball and men’s outdoor track and field. Houghton College finished fourth overall with a percentage total of 0.505 after winning its first men’s tennis title in league history. Russell Sage College rounded out the top five with a percentage total of 0.444. Russell Sage won its first Empire 8 title in any sport, women’s soccer, on April 17 and earned runner-up honors in men’s soccer.
Hartwick College, Elmira College, Empire 8 newcomer Keuka College and Alfred University rounded out the final four spots, as all were separated by under .032 percentage points.
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 are listed below.
2020-21 Final Empire 8 Commissioner’s Cup Standings ^
| Standings |
Actual |
Possible |
Pct |
| St. John Fisher |
107.5 |
118 |
0.91101695 |
| Nazareth |
83.75 |
113 |
0.74115044 |
| Utica |
67.5 |
113 |
0.59734513 |
| Houghton |
51.5 |
102 |
0.50490196 |
| Russell Sage |
45.25 |
102 |
0.44362745 |
| Hartwick |
12.75 |
29 |
0.43965517 |
| Elmira |
14.75 |
34 |
0.43382353 |
| Keuka |
17.5 |
41 |
0.42682927 |
| Alfred |
42 |
103 |
0.40776699 |
^ Empire 8 did not begin league play for the 2020-21 season until March 1, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Football and swimming and diving were not included, as the league did not crown a champion for those sports.
2020-21 Empire 8 Champions
Fall
Men’s Cross Country: Nazareth
Women’s Cross Country: St. John Fisher
Field Hockey: St. John Fisher
Men’s Soccer: St. John Fisher
Women’s Soccer: Russell Sage
Women’s Volleyball: St. John Fisher
Women’s Tennis: Nazareth
Winter
Men’s Basketball: Utica
Women’s Basketball: Nazareth
Men’s Indoor Track & Field: St. John Fisher
Women’s Indoor Track & Field: St. John Fisher
Spring
Baseball: St. John Fisher
Men’s Golf: Utica
Men’s Lacrosse: St. John Fisher
Women’s Lacrosse: St. John Fisher
Softball: Alfred
Men’s Tennis: Houghton
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field: St. John Fisher
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field: St. John Fisher
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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