MADISON, N.J. – For the second time in three years Susquehanna University benefitted from its department depth and earns the 2011-12 Landmark Conference President's All Sports Cup. Susquehanna became the second Landmark team to win multiple All Sports Cups, having won the Cup in 2009-10.
The Crusaders moved ahead in the winter season and finished with a total of 7.617 to hold a comfortable edge over three-time winner and runner-up Moravian College. Moravian finished with a score of 7.300, which is a higher score than their winning total of last season. The Catholic University of America was just .217 behind for a best-ever third-place finish and The University of Scranton was a scant .0163 behind Catholic in fourth.
The Landmark President's All Sports Cup is awarded based on a formula that rewards institutions for their finishes in the regular season conference standings as well as results in Landmark postseason competition. The formula also takes into account the number of sports a school sponsors with teams earning points for their 15-highest point producing sports.
The Crusaders earned one conference championship during the year with the women's swimming & diving team narrowly pulling out a second-consecutive championship and the women's tennis and softball teams were atop the regular-season standings. Susquehanna also showed remarkable depth with second-place finishes in either the regular season or postseason in women's volleyball, men's cross country, men's basketball, women's lacrosse and men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field.
Moravian claimed seven Landmark championships during the season, winning at least two in each sports season. The men's and women's cross country teams both triumphed in the fall, followed by men's and women's indoor track & field claiming wins in the winter. Three teams captured titles in the spring with men's and women's track & field and softball each winning for a fifth time. The Greyhounds also qualified for the Landmark postseason in all but two sports, including the baseball team finishing atop the regular-season standings.
Catholic enjoyed a best-ever finish in the standings on the strength of three women's team titles. The women's lacrosse team captured a fifth-straight title while the field hockey and women's basketball teams earned their first. The Cardinals also reached the postseason in seven of the team sports with its men's soccer team finishing atop the regular season standings.
Scranton also had three conference titles to its credit for the season, with women's soccer, men's basketball, and women's tennis all claiming championships. The Royals also finished in the top four in the conference standings in all but two sport, with women's basketball and men's tennis placing second in the regular season standings, and women's and men's swimming & diving placing second at the Landmark Championships.
The Landmark concluded spring competition at the 2012 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where four Landmark competitors earned All-America honors. That capped a year that saw 13 Landmark teams to NCAA Tournaments and had a total of 18 athletes qualify for NCAA Championships in cross country, swimming & diving, and indoor and outdoor track & field.
Release courtesy of Landmark Conference office.