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Bucknell Captures 17th Patriot League Presidents' Cup
May 25, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Six Bison teams won Patriot League titles in 2010-11, helping Bucknell to capture its 17th Patriot League Presidents’ Cup in the 21-year history of the conference. Bucknell earned the league’s all-sports title for the sixth straight year and for the 13th time in the last 14 years. The Bison also swept the Overall, Men’s and Women’s Cups for the seventh time. Bucknell won the Women’s Cup for the 14th consecutive year and 17th time overall, while it captured the Men’s Cup for the eighth time, including each of the last two years. Bucknell’s current streak of six straight Presidents’ Cups is one shy of its own record of seven in a row from 1997-98 to 2003-04. Bucknell entered the spring season with a 9.5-point lead on second-place Navy and defeated the Mids by 6.75 points in the final standings thanks to four spring Patriot League titles. In the overall Presidents’ Cup standings, Bucknell finished with 118.5 total points. Navy was second with 111.75 points, while Lehigh was third with 101. Army (99 points), Colgate (94), American (68.5), Lafayette (60) and Holy Cross (55.5) rounded out the list. "I would like to personally congratulate all of the Bison student-athletes, coaches and staff who worked incredibly hard this year to sustain Bucknell's tradition of winning the Patriot League Presidents' Cup,” said director of athletics and recreation John Hardt. “Retaining the Cup is no small feat, considering the escalating competition from the Patriot League as a whole. Combining this symbol of on-field success with this week's news that Bucknell has once again surpassed the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate standards with flying colors, it is evident that Bison Athletics continues to deliver on its mission to develop the best and brightest scholar-athletes." The Bison men’s teams accounted for 56.75 points as they edged out second-place Navy by one point in a tight race that featured four schools within seven points of the lead. Army (53.5), Lehigh (49.75) and Colgate (36), rounded out the top five positions on the men’s side. In the Women’s Cup race, Bucknell’s 61.75 points were first, while Colgate (58), Navy (56) and Lehigh (51.25) also crossed the 50-point plateau. Six Bison sports contributed Patriot League titles in 2010-11. The men’s soccer team claimed its second straight Patriot League title in the fall, while the men’s basketball squad won its third crown since 2005 in March. The spring sports contributed four trophies as men’s lacrosse, women’s rowing and men’s and women’s track and field won conference championships. In addition to the six Patriot League crowns, Bucknell was strong in many of the 23 league-sponsored sports. The Bison women’s cross country, women’s soccer and women’s indoor track and field teams each posted second-place finishes in 2010-11, while the field hockey, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, women’s tennis and men’s indoor track and field teams registered third-place showings. The women’s basketball, field hockey, women’s soccer, women’s tennis, men’s tennis and volleyball squads each participated in the semifinals of their postseason tournaments. Presidents’ Cup points are awarded based on a team’s performance in the regular-season and postseason Patriot League standings. In cross country, football, golf, swimming & diving, track & field and women’s rowing, the points are awarded based on the final Patriot League Championship standings. In team sports with postseason tournaments, such as basketball, field hockey, soccer, lacrosse and volleyball, points are awarded based on the average finish in the league championship tournament and regular-season standings. Bucknell also has four non-Patriot League sports ¯ women’s golf, men’s and women’s water polo and wrestling ¯ and those sports fared well in their conference play in 2010-11. The women’s golf team posted its best-ever showing (third) at the Big South Championships, while the wrestling squad finished eighth at the EIWA Championships in Sojka Pavilion and claimed another All-American in Kevin LeValley. Men’s water polo advanced to the title game of the Southern Championships for the first time in more than a decade and finished fourth at the Eastern Championship, while the women’s squad posted a seventh-place showing at the Eastern Championship earlier this month. Even though Patriot League action is complete, there are still a few events left on the 2010-11 Bucknell sports calendar as the track & field teams will compete at the NCAA Regional Championships this weekend in Bloomington, Ind., and the women’s rowing lightweight eight will race at the IRA National Championship Regatta June 3-4 on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J. 2010-11 Patriot League Presidents' Cup Final Standings Men Women |
