General | 5/21/2025 10:58:32 AM
Empire 8 newcomer SUNY Geneseo used a strong spring semester to maintain its year-long lead and win the 2024-25 Empire 8 Commissioner’s Cup, announced by the league on Wednesday, May 21. The Knights finished with a 0.856 composite percentage to claim their first E8 Commissioner’s Cup title in their first full season as a league member.
SUNY Geneseo won 11 league championships during the 2024-25 season, while runner-up St. John Fisher University won five Empire 8 Championships. Overall, seven full-time Empire 8 member institutions won at least one league championship this season. For the complete E8 Commissioner's Cup standings, please see below.
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The Knights earned 43.75 out of a possible 50 points from their spring sports teams, with E8 Championships in men’s and women’s outdoor track and field. In the fall, Geneseo won the Empire 8 men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey and women’s soccer championships and annexed men’s and women’s indoor track and field, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and women’s basketball titles during the winter season. Geneseo finished in the top half of the standings in 18 of the 20 sports they competed in during the year.
St. John Fisher, who won the previous four E8 Commissioner’s Cup titles, made a strong rally during the spring season to leap from fourth after the winter season to finish second overall with a 0.762 composite percentage. The Cardinals recorded 65 out of a possible 75 points (0.867) during the spring, on the strength of Empire 8 titles in men’s and women’s lacrosse and men’s golf, in addition to runner-up finishes in softball and men’s volleyball. St. John Fisher also won Empire 8 men’s soccer and women’s volleyball championships during the fall.
Just 0.16 percentage points, separated the E8’s second through fourth place finishers. Nazareth finished third overall, recording a percentage total of 0.75, with men’s volleyball earning an E8 title, women’s golf taking the E8 Invitational, and men’s tennis finishing as the top scorer among full-time member institutions. In addition, the Golden Flyers earned runner-up honors in men’s lacrosse, men’s golf, women’s indoor track and field, women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball.
SUNY Brockport finished fourth overall with a percentage total of 0.746 on the strength of a dominant baseball championship program, runner-up finishes in women’s basketball, men’s cross country, men’s indoor and outdoor track and field, and women’s outdoor track and field in addition to regular season titles in men’s and women’s basketball and women’s soccer.
Utica University finished fifth in the E8 standings with a composite score of 0.529. The Pioneers won the Empire 8 men’s basketball championship for the second straight season and won the regular season crown in men’s ice hockey. Houghton University placed sixth in the E8 standings with a composite score of 0.481, while Alfred won the 2025 Empire 8 softball title and was the highest E8 finisher in football to place seventh overall with a percentage total of 0.467.
Hartwick College, Russell Sage College, Elmira College, SUNY Poly and Keuka College rounded out the final 2024-25 Empire 8 Commissioner’s Cup standings. Hartwick won the 2024 Empire 8 women’s tennis championship, while Russell Sage appeared in the baseball championship series, SUNY Poly advanced to the Empire 8 Championship game in men’s basketball and Elmira played in the men’s soccer title game.
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 number of points earned is then divided by the number of possible points for each school based on conference-sponsored sports to determine their overall percentage.
2024-25 Empire 8 Final Commissioner’s Cup Standings
| Institution |
Actual |
Possible |
Percentage |
| SUNY Geneseo |
161 |
188 |
0.85638298 |
| St. John Fisher |
155.5 |
204 |
0.7622549 |
| Nazareth |
153 |
204 |
0.75 |
| SUNY Brockport |
147 |
197 |
0.74619289 |
| Utica |
104.75 |
198 |
0.5290404 |
| Houghton |
80.75 |
168 |
0.48065476 |
| Alfred |
87.25 |
187 |
0.46657754 |
| Hartwick |
80.5 |
184 |
0.4375 |
| Russell Sage |
74.25 |
190 |
0.39078947 |
| Elmira |
35.25 |
97 |
0.36340206 |
| SUNY Poly |
46.75 |
135 |
0.3462963 |
| Keuka |
31 |
144 |
0.21527778 |
2024-25 Empire 8 Champions
Fall
Men’s Cross Country: SUNY Geneseo
Women’s Cross Country: SUNY Geneseo
Field Hockey: SUNY Geneseo
Football: SUNY Cortland (Alfred top full-member E8 finisher)
Women’s Golf (Invitational): Nazareth
Men’s Soccer: St. John Fisher
Women’s Soccer: SUNY Geneseo
Women’s Volleyball: St. John Fisher
Women’s Tennis: Hartwick
Winter
Men’s Basketball: Utica
Women’s Basketball: SUNY Geneseo
Men’s Ice Hockey: Utica
Men’s Swimming and Diving: SUNY Geneseo
Women’s Swimming and Diving: SUNY Geneseo
Men’s Indoor Track & Field: SUNY Geneseo
Women’s Indoor Track & Field: SUNY Geneseo
Spring
Baseball: SUNY Brockport
Men’s Golf: St. John Fisher
Men’s Lacrosse: St. John Fisher
Women’s Lacrosse: St. John Fisher
Softball: Alfred
Men’s Tennis: SUNY Oswego (Nazareth top full-member E8 finisher)
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field: SUNY Geneseo
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field: SUNY Geneseo
Men’s Volleyball: 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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