Even with the sports season over, Ithaca College was able to celebrate another athletic win.
The Bombers took home the Empire 8 Commissioner’s Cup for the 15th consecutive year after being named the winners May 27.
Michelle Manning, associate director of intercollegiate athletics, said it is the level of dedication and talent on the parts of both the coaches and the athletes that has secured the accomplishment for such a lengthy period of time.
“Each college in our conference is unique in its own way, and we’ve been fortunate to be able to produce consistently over the course of 15 years,” Manning said. “We have consistency in our coaching staff and great coaches who have done a great job recruiting student athletes that can compete at a high level.”
The winner of the Commissioner’s Cup is chosen based on where the college places in each of its conference sports. At the end of each season, points are awarded based on where the college finishes in the conference standings. The higher the college places in the standings, the more points it is awarded.
The number of points is given on a scale depending on the number of schools that sponsor the sport — the college sponsors 22 of the league’s 23 sports. Finishing the year with a total of 148 points out of a possible 167, the Bombers attained a percentage of .886, beating out the eight other colleges in the rankings.
The college was followed in the standings by second-place Stevens Institute of Technology and third-place St. John Fisher College, which finished with percentages of .804 and .753, respectively. Nazareth College, Hartwick College, Alfred University, Utica College, Elmira College and Houghton College rounded out the rest of the standings.
To begin the year, the Blue and Gold took the lead early, and the college went on to win a total of six out of nine possible conference titles. For the fall season, the college saw conference champions in men’s and women’s cross country, women’s golf, women’s tennis, football and women’s soccer.
The winter season brought two more Empire 8 titles as women’s indoor track and field and women’s swimming and diving excelled, concluding both their seasons with a conference title. Men’s swimming and diving, women’s basketball and men’s indoor track and field were runners-up, which gave the Blue and Gold 99 points out of a possible 112 after the winter season.
The Bombers then went on to conclude the 2014–15 athletic year with Empire 8 titles in baseball and women’s outdoor track and field. The Blue and Gold saw second-place finishes in men’s outdoor track and field, men’s tennis, women’s lacrosse and men’s lacrosse, which secured the Bombers the top spot in the standings for the Commissioner’s Cup.
Manning said to be able to earn the achievement 15 times in as many years shows the level of performance the college’s athletics teams are capable of.
“We’re really excited about earning the Commissioner’s Cup for the 15th straight year,” Manning said. “It’s not an easy thing to do. Our conference has great competitors, and being able to accomplish that goal is significant for Ithaca College.”
