Women's Track & Field captured its seventh-straight indoor championship in February (PHOTO BY Jan Volk/SportsPix) |
Ice Hockey captured its third NE10 Championship from the No. 3 seed, posting a 3-1 win over Franklin Pierce in the title game (PHOTO BY Mike Tureski/SportsPix) |
Women's Basketball captured the NE10 Northeast Division and NE10 Tournament titles, winning its last 12 games of the season before the NCAA Tournament was cancelled. (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
Skyhawks led overall standings leading into cancelled spring season
Embrace the Victory: SNHU, Stonehill Named NE10 Presidents' Cup Seasonal Champions
EASTON, Mass. (May 12, 2020) – Stonehill College has earned its sixth Northeast-10 Conference Presidents' Cup title by receiving the honors for the winter season after also posting a second-place finish in the fall season standings, the NE10 announced.
"It is a special privilege to be awarded the winter NE10 Presidents' Cup, and this achievement is a credit to our 450 student-athletes, coaches and the Stonehill community which supports them," said Dean O'Keefe '94, Director of Athletics at the College. "Stonehill is proud to compete in the best NCAA Division II conference in the country, and we are thrilled to see our student-athletes recognized for their hard work, dedication and perseverance both academically and athletically."
Stonehill, which has finished in the top three of the final NE10 Presidents' Cup standings in 15 of the last 16 years, held the Presidents' Cup standings lead at the conclusion of the 2019-20 winter season after ranking second at the conclusion of the fall season and then leading the winter standings. The College has won NE10 Presidents' Cup, following the 2005-06, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2014-15 academic years.
The NE10 Presidents' Cup is presented annually to signify overall athletic excellence in the Conference. The honor is awarded to the institution that compiles the most cumulative points, based on finishes in the regular-season standings, from all 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.
After the cancellation of the spring season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NE10 Athletics Council – which consists of athletic directors and senior woman administrators from each member institution – determined it would honor the institutions that accumulated the highest point totals in both the fall and winter seasons, allowing the Conference to appropriately recognize the accomplishments of the membership through the conclusion of 17 of the 24 sports that comprise the award.
"Congratulations to all of the student-athletes, coaches and administrators at both Southern New Hampshire and Stonehill," said NE10 Commissioner Julie Ruppert. "While this year was unlike any other in our history, it was important to our Conference leadership that we were able to acknowledge, despite the cancelled spring season, the significant time and effort that went into the fall and winter seasons across our campuses. We were able to complete 17 NE10 sports in 2019-20 and these revised President Cup awards provide us the opportunity to honor the tremendous dedication and commitment of the SNHU and Stonehill athletic departments."
Stonehill, keyed by three NE10 Championships, compiled 48 points during the winter season to lead Southern Connecticut State University (46 points) by two points. Assumption College (42) placed third, followed by Le Moyne College (39) and Adelphi University (38) to round out the top five. Southern New Hampshire University (86 points) edged the Skyhawks (82.5) in the fall standings, with Adelphi third (75) and Assumption (73.5) and Franklin Pierce University (73.5) tied for fourth to round out the top five. Stonehill led the NE10 with 130.5 points overall following the winter season, leading second place Assumption (115.5) by 15 points.
Stonehill won seven NE10 Championships during the 2019-20 season, including four among three sports in the winter season. After women's tennis swept the NE10 regular season and tournament titles for the second-straight year and women's cross country captured its 11th-straight and 18th NE10 Championship overall during the fall, women's basketball won both the NE10 Northeast Division regular season championship on its way to the NE10 Tournament crown. Women's track & field won its seventh-straight NE10 Indoor Championship and then ice hockey claimed its third NE10 Tournament title to account for the department's seven titles this year. In addition to the seven NE10 Championships, Stonehill saw six programs earn NCAA Tournament bids over the course of the academic year.
With 23 intercollegiate sports after announcing the addition of women's swimming for the 2020-21 academic year and women's ice hockey for 2021-22, Stonehill boasts one of the top athletic and academic programs in the country. In addition to its six NE10 Presidents' Cups over the last 16 years, Stonehill has received the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Achievement each of the first nine years of the program's existence of honoring institutions with an Academic Success Rate (ASR) of 90-percent or better. The Skyhawks have earned a 95% 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 tenth among all NCAA Division II institutions, with nine teams receiving a perfect rating of 100%.
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