Merrimack Finishes Fifth in Northeast-10 President’s Cup Standings

NORTH ANDOVER, MA – Featuring six NCAA Tournament appearances and three Northeast-10 runner-ups, Merrimack placed fifth of 15 schools in the 2008-09 Northeast-10 President’s Cup Standings.

A closer look at the facts, however, suggests the Warriors fared better than the standings indicate, considering they, along with UMass Lowell, compete in just 15 sports, the fewest among the top five schools.

In fact, if just the 15 sports played at Merrimack were taken into account, the Warriors would have finished second with 132 points, five behind Bentley University. Merrimack finished in the top five in 11 sports (Men’s Basketball, Men’s Cross Country, Football, Men’s Lacrosse, Women’s Lacrosse, Softball, Men’s Soccer, Women’s Soccer, Volleyball, Men’s Tennis, and Women’s Tennis).

Six teams, Men’s Basketball, Men’s Lacrosse, Women’s Soccer, Volleyball, Men’s Tennis and Women’s Tennis, qualified for the NCAA Tournament, while Volleyball, Men’s Tennis and Men’s Lacrosse each played for the Northeast-10 Championship.

Four coaches, Gabe Mejail (Women’s Soccer), Joey Pacis (Volleyball), Chris Stevens (Men’s Tennis), and Elaine Schwager (Softball), earned Northeast-10 Coach of the Year honors, while Caitlin Hall, from the Women’s Soccer team, was named the Northeast-10 Female Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Bentley claimed the 2008-2009 Presidents’ Cup, which was announced Monday evening at the conference’s end of the year awards banquet in Mystic, Conn. The Falcons registered 165 points to win the Presidents’ Cup for the first time since the 2002-2003 academic year. This marks the eighth time overall that the Falcons have won the coveted award including a four-year run from 1995-1996 through 1998-1999.

Stonehill College finished second overall in the Presidents’ Cup standings after collecting 152.5 points. Southern Connecticut State University earned 139 points to finish third in the Presidents’ Cup standings just ahead of the University of Massachusetts Lowell with 138.5 points.

The rest of the field includes in order, Le Moyne College (116.5), Southern New Hampshire University (112.5), the College of Saint Rose (107.5), Assumption College (106), University of New Haven (100.5), American International College (95), Franklin Pierce University (93), Saint Anselm College (86), Saint Michael’s College (85) and Pace University (58).

Merrimack last won the President’s Cup in 1999-00 and finished second in 2000-01. Bryant University, now in the Northeast Conference (Division I), had won four of the last five championships.

The Presidents’ Cup is presented annually to signify overall athletic excellence in the Northeast-10 Conference and is awarded to the institution that compiles the most points based on the placement at the conclusion of the regular season of each of its programs which compete in league championships. Points for men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s swimming & diving, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track & field and men’s golf are awarded based on placement in respective conference championships.

With 15 member institutions, the Northeast-10 is the second largest NCAA Division II athletic conference in the nation. Its 23 championship sports provide athletic opportunities for over 5,500 student-athletes, the largest such program of any Division II conference.