June 1, 2009

ELMHURST, Ill. - Oral Roberts used four first-place finishes and three second-place finishes throughout the 2008-09 school year to claim its fourth consecutive Summit League Commissioner’s Cup and its eighth title overall. The Golden Eagles also took home the Dr. William Steinbrecher Men’s All Sports Award, while South Dakota State won the Dr. Helen Smiley Women’s All Sports Award. It was the fifth-straight year and the 10th time in school history that ORU won the men’s sports award, while SDSU won the women’s award for the second consecutive year.

The Commissioner’s Cup is given annually to the institution that collects the most combined points in relationship to placement in league-sponsored sports between its men’s and women’s athletic programs, while the all-sports awards are given to the member institutions that accumulate the most points in male and female sports. The men’s award is named for former Valparaiso Director of Athletics Dr. William Steinbrecher, who guided the Crusaders from 1979-2004, while the women’s award is named for former Western Illinois Director of Athletics Dr. Helen Smiley, who headed up that athletic program from 1994-2001.

ORU totaled 101.0 points in the 2008-09 Commissioner’s Cup race to take the title. South Dakota State came in second with 96.5 points, followed by North Dakota State with 93.0 tallies. Oakland, which had 92.0 points, finished in fourth place, Western Illinois (90.5) was in fifth and Southern Utah (84.0) placed sixth. Rounding out the stadings were UMKC in seventh with 57.0 points, followed by IPFW (56.5), IUPUI (56.0) and Centenary (33.5).

In the men’s race, Oral Roberts accumulated 52.0 points to finish ahead of Southern Utah’s 41.5 tallies. Oakland finished third with 39.0 points, followed by Western Illinois with 38.0 tallies and North Dakota State with 37.0 points in the top half of the standings.

With 60.0 points on the women’s side during the 2008-09 academic year, the Jackrabbits topped North Dakota State (56.0), Oakland (53.0), Western Illinois (52.5) and Oral Roberts (49.0) for the Dr. Helen Smiley All Sports Award.

North Dakota State led the league with five regular-season titles during the 2008-09 year with championships in men’s basketball, men’s indoor track & field, women’s indoor track & field, women’s outdoor track & field and volleyball. Oakland and Oral Roberts each won four league regular-season league titles.

Standings for the 2008-09 Commissioner’s Cup and the Dr. William Steinbrecher Men’s All Sports and Dr. Helen Smiley Women’s All Sports Awards are listed found below. 

 

 

 -30-