ROCHESTER, N.Y. (May 23, 2019)  – The Stevens Institute of Technology Department of Athletics has captured its second straight Empire 8 Conference Commissioner's Cup, the league office announced earlier this week.

Stevens, who sponsors 22 of the league's 24 sports, totaled 152 out of a possible 169 points, which was good for an 0.899 composite percentage, which is the second-highest total recorded since the league began awarding the cup following the 2006-07 season. St. John Fisher totaled 133.5 out of a possible 166 points to place second with an 0.804 percentage. Nazareth (0.674), Utica (0.604) and Alfred (0.507) rounded out the top five, with Hartwick (0.483), Houghton (0.456), Sage (0.295) and Elmira (0.244) completing the standings. 

The Ducks are just the second program in the conference's history to win the cup. Ithaca College claimed the cup from its initial offering in 2007 through 2016, when the Bombers departed for the Liberty League. Stevens will depart the Empire 8 for the MAC Freedom on July 1.

"The Empire 8 Commissioner's Cup has always been an important gauge for the progress of our athletic program at Stevens because it encompasses a wide range of sport offerings and measures overall athletic success," said Director of Athletics Russell Rogers. "The standard we set each year is for all of our teams to be in a position to compete for a conference title and we were able to do just that this year. This recognition is a credit to all of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, who worked so hard to maximize the success of our teams. It is especially an honor to earn the Commissioner's Cup in our last year as a member of the Empire 8, and we wish our colleagues and fellow conference members nothing but the best."

The cup is awarded annually to the E8 institution garnering the most success during conference play. Points are awarded based on each team's finish in the conference standings at the completion of the regular season and postseason. Points are awarded on a scale dependent upon the number of institutions that sponsor the sport (affiliate members are not calculated into the point scale). A team's regular-season finish will be added to their postseason finish and divided by two for the final total for that sport. Teams tied for a position in the regular season standings are ranked based on tiebreaker scenarios. The actual amount of points earned is then divided by the amount of possible points for each school based on conference-sponsored sports to determine the final percentage. 

The Ducks claimed conference championships in 10 sports and regular season titles in six. The department did not accumulate points in either football or women's golf.

Stevens earned three conference titles in the fall, with women's soccer winning its sixth crown, while men's soccer won the conference tournament for the 11th time. Women's tennis captured its first E8 title to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history to round out the fall titles.

The winter season brought championships for men's and women's indoor track and field, with the men's team capturing its first-ever conference crown, while the women earned their second in a row. Men's swimming won its seventh straight Empire 8 crown to complete the winter championships.

Men's and women's outdoor track and field completed the sweep of the track and field titles in the spring, with each team capturing their first title in the Ducks' final season in the E8. Men's tennis earned its 10th consecutive league title to advance to the NCAA Tournament and men's volleyball won their second straight conference crown to round out Stevens' E8 titles (Note: the conference awarded its men's volleyball championship to the team that finished atop the regular season standings). Additionally, softball and women's volleyball won regular-season titles and baseball joined St. John Fisher in receiving the highest point total for the regular season standings after tying for second place behind Ithaca.

Click here for the Empire 8's official release.

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