TOWSON, Md. --- At the end of the fall sports season, The Catholic University of America leads the Landmark Conference in the President's Cup standings. The President's Cup was created in the inaugural year of the conference to recognize the best overall athletics program.

The Cardinals won championships in field hockey and women's cross country this fall while finishing as runner-up in volleyball and third in men's soccer. The six fall sport teams combined for a league-high 44.5 points which generates a fall average of 6.50.

The University of Scranton is currently second in the standings after earning three top-3 finishes including a third straight women's soccer title. The men's soccer team finished as runner-up and field hockey was third in the regular season standings. The Royals boast a fall average of 5.50.

Moravian College, three time winners of the President's Cup, is in third place with a 5.33 average. The men's cross country team won their second consecutive championship. The women's cross country and women's soccer teams were runners-up and volleyball finished third this fall.

Rounding out the top half of the standings, Susquehanna University, which has captured the President's Cup twice, is in fourth at 5.00. The Crusaders won the men's soccer championship and finished second in men's cross country contributing to their strong performance this fall.

The Cup is awarded based on a formula that rewards institutions for regular season conference standings as well as results in Landmark postseason competition. Each team receives points based on their finish with top seeded teams receiving eight points, second place teams receive seven points, etc. Additional points are awarded for conference postseason victories. The runner-up in the Landmark Tournament receives one point, while the Landmark Champions receive three points.

Individual sports use the championship team standings to award points and then add points for individual finishes. Each individual event champion in swimming and track and field receives 0.25 points while the top seven finishers in cross country each receive 0.50 points.

The Landmark Conference sponsors 20 sport championships, but at the end of the year only the top 15 sport totals from each institution will be included to account for differences in sport sponsorship across the eight institutions. The modification could produce a large variance in institution averages from winter to spring President's Cup standings.

Release courtesy of Landmark Conference office