INDIANAPOLIS – For the first time in school history, Lewis University has captured the Great Lakes Valley Conference Commissioner’s Cup, it was announced by the league office on Tuesday. The Flyers’ athletic department earned the award for the 2012-13 season by posting the strongest finish in the league’s seven core sports.
Points are allocated for the Commissioner’s Cup based on the athletic department’s finish in the GLVC’s postseason tournaments in men’s soccer, women’s soccer, volleyball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, softball and baseball. Each of the league’s members sponsors these sports at the intercollegiate level.
Lewis, under the direction of first-year athletics director Dr. John Planek, earned 91.5 points over the course of the academic year, besting runner-up Bellarmine (84.5) by seven points. Missouri-St. Louis (75.0) finished third overall, while Southern Indiana (73.5) and Quincy (73.5) tied for fourth.
This season marked quite the improvement for the Flyers as they finished sixth in last year’s Commissioner’s Cup standings with 68.0 points. In fact, the same can be said for Bellarmine and Missouri-St. Louis as well, as the Knights (70.0) placed fifth in 2012, while the Tritons (62.5) were seventh.
Although this season marks the first Commissioner’s Cup victory for Lewis, the Flyers have been in contention for the award on several occasions. They have finished runners-up three times, including 2004, 2009, and 2011, while also finishing third in 2003 and 2007.
In conference play this year, Lewis made the GLVC Championship Tournament in all seven core sports, highlighted by a league title in women’s basketball. The Flyers also won a share of the GLVC East Division crown in women’s hoops following a 14-4 record, captured a piece of the East Division in volleyball at 15-3 before finishing second in the GLVC Tournament, and won the outright East Division title in baseball with a 23-10 mark, before losing in the semifinals of the GLVC Tournament to eventual conference champion Bellarmine. In softball, the Flyers also finished second in the league’s postseason event after placing second in the regular-season race in the East at 20-8. Lewis ended the men’s basketball season tied for third in the East at 12-6, while men’s (9-6) and women’s (8-6-1) soccer both advanced to the postseason after finishing seventh in the regular season.
The Commissioner’s Cup, instituted prior to the 2002-03 season, has had four different institutions stake claim to the award. Prior to Lewis earning its first honor, former GLVC member Northern Kentucky took home five straight and eight Cups in the 10 years it had been presented. Southern Indiana was the 2004 recipient, while former league member SIU Edwardsville earned the Commissioner’s Cup in 2007.
The standings for the 2012-13 GLVC Commissioner’s Cup are as follows:
|
1. |
Lewis |
91.50 |
|
2. |
Bellarmine |
84.50 |
|
3. |
Missouri-St. Louis |
75.00 |
|
4. |
Southern Indiana |
73.50 |
|
|
Quincy |
73.50 |
|
6. |
Drury |
70.50 |
|
7. |
Indianapolis |
68.00 |
|
8. |
William Jewell |
67.00 |
|
9. |
Rockhurst |
59.50 |
|
10. |
UW-Parkside |
55.50 |
|
11. |
Missouri S&T |
54.50 |
|
12. |
Maryville |
51.00 |
|
13. |
Kentucky Wesleyan |
35.50 |
|
14. |
McKendree |
34.00 |
|
15. |
Saint Joseph’s |
33.50 |
|
16. |
Illinois Springfield |
25.00 |