Albany Maintains Commissioner's Cup Lead Following Winter Season

Albany Maintains Commissioner's Cup Lead Following Winter Season

BOSTON - After winning three winter sport championships, University at Albany maintained its leads in the 2015-16 America East Commissioner’s Cup standings following the winter season. University of New Hampshire and Stony Brook University are in second and third place, respectively, with the spring season remaining.

The Commissioner’s Cup annually recognizes the strongest athletic program in America East as determined by a scoring system which rewards a school for success both during the regular season and championship competition in the conference’s 18 sports.

Albany racked up 123 points in the winter to grow its total to 288, 83 points ahead of second-place New Hampshire. Stony Brook had the largest jump of any America East school, climbing three spots to third place and has 185 points. University of Vermont follows closely in fourth place (181 points) followed by UMBC (162) in fifth, Binghamton University (159) in sixth and University of Maine (154) in seventh. University of Hartford (108) and UMass Lowell (92) round out the winter standings.

2015-16 Winter Stuart P. Haskell, Jr. Commissioner’s Cup Standings
Rank    Team                       Points
1.         Albany                   288
2.         New Hampshire       205
3.         Stony Brook            185
4.         Vermont                 181
5.         UMBC                    162
6.         Binghamton            159
7.         Maine                    154
8.         Hartford                108
9.         UMass Lowell          92

School Highlights
Albany

  • Winner of the last three Commissioner’s Cups, Albany earned 123 points during the winter and grew its lead to 83 points over second-place New Hampshire.  
  • Swept the women's basketball regular-season (co-regular season champion with Maine) and tournament titles, becoming the first America East program to win five-straight women's basketball championships.
  • The Great Danes swept the men's and women's indoor track & field titles for the sixth time in the last seven years.
  • Tied for the third-most points in men's basketball (37) by finishing second in the regular season.

New Hampshire

  • In second place after the winter season, the fourth-consecutive year UNH has been either first or second entering the spring. 
  • Tied for the third-most points in men's basketball after tying for third place in the regular season and advancing to the America East semifinals for the second-straight year.
  • Placed second at the women's swimming & diving championship for the second-straight year.
  • Earned a second-place finish in women's indoor track & field.
Stony Brook 
  • Moved up a league-best three spots from the fall standings. 
  • Swept the regular-season and tournament titles in men's basketball for the first time in program history.
  • Tied for the third-most points in women's basketball (35) after tying for third place in the regular season and reaching the championship semifinals.

Vermont

  • The Catamounts sit in fourth place, just four points out of third following the winter season.
  • Vermont gathered the second-most points in men's basketball (40) after tying for third in the regular season and reaching the championship game for the ninth time since 2003.
  • Earned a third-place finish in women's swimming & diving for the second-straight year and a fourth-place showing in men's indoor track & field.
UMBC
  • Jumped up one spot to sixth place.
  • Won its second-straight women's swimming & diving crown, setting a championship record for points accumulated.
  • Earned a third-place finish in indoor track & field.
Binghamton
  • Runners-up in men's indoor track & field for the fourth-straight year and eighth time in the last nine years.
  • Tied for the third-most points in women's basketball by tying for third-place in the regular season and reaching the semifinals for the first time in 2012.
Hartford
  • Moved up one spot to seventh.
  • Reached the semifinals in men's basketball after becoming just the second No. 7 seed to beat a No. 2 seed in the quarterfinals.
Maine
  • Accumulated the second-most points in women's basketball by winning the regular-season title (co-champions with Albany) and reaching the conference's championship game for the first time since 2004.
UMass Lowell
  • Finished fifth in men's basketball in the regular season.
  • Won its first-ever America East title in any sport in the fall (men's cross country).
 
The scoring system for the Stuart P. Haskell, Jr. Commissioner’s Cup is as follows: In sports where regular-season round robin competition is conducted, the first-place institution in the final standings receives four points times the total number of teams involved in conference play. The second-place institution receives four less points; third place receives eight less points, and so on. Additionally, the America East (tournament) champion receives two points times the total number of teams participating in the championship. The second-place institution receives two less points; third place receives four less points and so on down to the last-place institution which receives two points.

In sports where regular-season round robin competition is not conducted (cross country, tennis, track & field, swimming & diving), the first-place institution at the America East championship receives two points times the total number of teams participating in the championship. The second-place institution receives two less points; third place gets four less points and so on down to the last place team which receives two points.