Women's Track & Field captured its fifth-straight NE10 Indoor Championship (PHOTO BY Brian Foley) |
Women's Basketball won its ninth NE10 regular season championship with a program-record 20-1 record in Conference play. |
Skyhawks win two NE10 championships over winter season,giving athletic department five for the year
NE10 Presidents' Cup Winter Update
NACDA/Learfield Cup Division II Final Winter Standings
EASTON, Mass. (April 2, 2018) – After adding Conference championships in women's basketball and indoor track & field to its three titles won during the fall season, Stonehill College has taken over the lead in the Northeast-10 Conference Presidents' Cup standings, which recognizes overall athletic success in the Conference over the course of the entire year, the league office announced.
Stonehill, which has finished in the top three of the final NE10 Presidents' Cup standings 13 straight years after placing second following the 2016-17 academic year, compiled 50 points during the winter athletics season to take over the lead with 129.0 points. The Skyhawks lead rival Bentley University (124.5 points), which is in search of its first Presidents' Cup since 2009, by 4.5 points heading into the spring season. Merrimack College is third with 112.5 points, while Assumption College is fourth with 111.5 points and two-time defending Presidents' Cup champions Adelphi University rounds out the top five with 108.5 points. Stonehill and Adelphi have combined to win the last eight Presidents' Cups dating back to Bentley's last first place finish with the Skyhawks winning the Cup three-straight years from 2010-2012, and the Panthers capturing the Cup four of the last five years, with Stonehill claiming its fourth Cup over that time frame in 2015.
In addition to leading the NE10 Presidents' Cup, Stonehill is ranked 39th in the most recent Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings released at the conclusion of the winter NCAA Championships season. The Skyhawks lead all NE10 institutions in the Learfield standings with 239.0 points from NCAA Championships participation for men's and women's indoor track & field (32.5 points) and women's basketball (73). Southern Connecticut State University is ranked 41st in the Learfield standings with 235 points, with American International College rounding out the other NE10 members in the top 50 with 209.50 to rank 50th
In addition to its 13 straight top three finishes, Stonehill has won the NE-10 Presidents' Cup five times, following the 2005-06, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2014-15 academic years. The Presidents' Cup is presented annually to signify overall athletic excellence in the Northeast-10. The honor is awarded to the institution that compiles the most cumulative points, based on finishes in the regular-season standings, from all of its programs competing in league championships. Points for men's and women's cross country, men's and women's swimming & diving, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field, and men's and women's golf are awarded based on placement in those sports' respective conference championships.
Stonehill, which won three NE10 Championships during the fall to sit second in the NE10 standings, added NE10 titles for women's basketball and indoor track & field this winter. Four of its five winter programs participated in postseason play, with men's indoor track & field placing third at the NE10 Championships and men's basketball tied for third in the NE10 regular season standings, reaching the quarterfinals of the NE10 Tournament. In addition to its ninth NE10 regular season championship, the women's basketball team also reached the NE10 title game, while women's track & field won its fifth-straight indoor championship. Stonehill won NE10 titles in men's and women's cross country and women's tennis in the fall.
Women's basketball earned its 24th NCAA Tournament bid in program history this winter, earning the top seed and hosting rights to the East Regional for the first time since 1995. The Skyhawks captured their third regional title in program history to advance to the NCAA II Elite Eight for the first time in 23-years. Stonehill's men's 4000-meter distance medley relay team earned All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships with a fifth place finish, while the women's DMR also earned a spot at the NCAA Championships, finishing 12th.
With 21 intercollegiate sports, Stonehill boasts one of the top athletic and academic programs in the country. In addition to finishing in the top three of the Northeast-10 Conference Presidents' Cup standings for overall athletic performance 13 straight years, the Skyhawks have received the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Achievement each of the first seven years of the program's existence of honoring institutions with an Academic Success Rate (ASR) of 90-percent or better. Stonehill has earned a 97% Academic Success Ranking (ASR) by the NCAA, which considers the academic success rate of the institution based on the graduation rate of student-athletes, good for fourth among all NCAA Division II institutions, with ten Skyhawk teams receiving a perfect rating of 100%. In addition, the Skyhawks are ranked third in the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) Power Rankings for Division II used to assess the academic and athletic standards of all NCAA and NAIA athletic programs.
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