Stony Brook Fares Well in America East Awards
June 25, 2008
Orlando, Fla. - Stony Brook University's Athletics Department had a good showing in a pair of conference-wide awards that were announced at the America East Conference's annual meeting in Florida this week. Stony Brook finished in a tie for fifth with New Hampshire in the final standings of the 2007-08 Stuart P. Haskell, Jr. Commissioner's Cup, the award that annually recognizes the top overall athletics program in the league. In the league's measure of academic success, the America East Academic Cup, Stony Brook finished fourth overall.
Stony Brook had its most successful athletics season since joining the America East Conference in 2007-08, capturing three America East championships and one regular season title. In the fall the Seawolves saw their women's cross country squad capture its first conference title before moving on to take second at the NCAA Regional meet; a finish that qualified them to run at the NCAA Championships. The Stony Brook volleyball squad also had a fantastic season, capturing the regular season title in that sport. In May both the softball and baseball teams won America East titles, the first for softball and second for baseball, and moved on to NCAA Championships competition. In all Stony Brook totaled 278 points in the Commissioners Cup race, just 13 points shy of fourth-place Binghamton. The Stuart P. Haskell, Jr. Commissioner's Cup is named in honor of the first commissioner of America East. Haskell served as commissioner of the conference from 1987 until his retirement in 1997.
On the academic side Stony Brook was one of five schools in the nine-school league that compiled an overall grade point average above a 3.0, finishing the school year with a record-high 3.06. The University of Vermont won the award with an overall GPA of 3.14. Stony Brook had three of its teams post the highest GPAs in their respective sports; men's swimming and diving (3.18), men's tennis (3.24) and women's outdoor track and field (3.38).
