Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Takes Lead in Presidents' Cup Standings Following Winter Season
3/31/2006 7:00:00 AM | General
March 31, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Backed by Patriot League championships in three of the six winter sports, Bucknell moved into first place in the Presidents' Cup standings, the league office announced Friday. The Bison have accumulated 71.5 points over the fall and winter seasons, which is 7.5 more than second-place Army.
Bucknell has captured 11 of the previous 15 Presidents' Cup titles, although Army ended Bucknell's seven-year run in 2004-05. Army and Bucknell are the only two schools to ever win the Patriot League Presidents' Cup, which recognizes the athletic department that achieved the most on-field success in a given year.
American, who has been the Presidents' Cup leader through the fall in each of the last four years, moved down to third place with 62.75 points.
In fourth place through 13 fall and winter sports is Lehigh with 56 points, with Navy right behind in fifth with 55.5 points. Rounding out the list is Colgate (50.5) in sixth, Lafayette (45.75) in seventh and Holy Cross (34) in eighth.
Bucknell was able to climb up the Presidents' Cup list by winning both the regular season and tournament title in men's basketball, as well as being crowned champion in the sports of women's indoor track and field and women's swimming and diving.
Army moved up from fifth place in the fall to second in the winter with regular season and tournament wins in women's basketball, a first for the Black Knights. Army came in first at the men's indoor track and field championship and earned a pair of second-place finishes in women's indoor track and field and men's swimming and diving.
The other winter champion was Navy, which took first at the men's swimming and diving championship.
The league also awards men's and women's all-sports trophies. Bucknell is in first on the women's side by 6.75 points, while Lehigh leads the men's race by one point. The Bison women have been at least a top-four finisher in all seven of the female sports, winning the cross country, indoor track and field and swimming and diving titles outright.
Presidents' Cup points are awarded based on a team's performance in the regular season and postseason. In football, the points are awarded based on the final regular season standings, while points in cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field, swimming & diving, golf and rowing are handed out based on the order of finish at the League championship. In team sports with postseason tournaments, points are awarded based on a combination of the League Championship and regular season standings.
The winner of the 2005-06 Patriot League Presidents' Cup will be announced following the spring championship season.
The Patriot League, an NCAA Division I athletics conference founded on the principle of admitting athletes who are academically representative of their class, is in its second decade of academic and athletic excellence. A successful Division I-AA football conference since 1986 and an all-sport conference since 1990, membership includes American, Army, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh and Navy, while three additional institutions hold associate membership. Patriot League member institutions are among the oldest and most prestigious in the nation, graduating alumni who are well prepared for life with the ability to make meaningful contributions to their community and society in general. In the most recent NCAA Graduation Rate Report of student-athletes, the Patriot League ranked FIRST among NCAA Division I conferences.
