Susquehanna Wins 2021-22 Landmark Presidents’ Trophy
TOWSON, Md. – After the 2021-22 season, Susquehanna University was awarded the Landmark Conference Presidents' Trophy.
The River Hawks narrowly edged second-place Catholic University by a razor thin margin of 0.06 points
As the spring season wound down, three teams had a chance to claim the Presidents' Trophy; They were Catholic University, The University of Scranton, and Susquehanna University. In the end, the last championship (baseball) ultimately decided the winner. The River Hawks needed either a runner-up or championship in order to claim the trophy.
Even though SU lost the championship game to Elizabethtown College, the necessary bonus points pushed them over the top.
Additional spring championships for the River Hawks included softball, and women's outdoor track and field. SU earned runner-up finishes in baseball and women's outdoor track and field. They participated in the men's lacrosse and men's tennis conference tournament.
Overall, SU won six Landmark championships. Those included women's cross country, men's basketball, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's outdoor track and field, and softball. In addition to the championships, the River Hawks qualified for conference playoffs in nine of the 12 team championships and finished in the top half of the standings in 15 of 22 sponsored sports.
Defending Presidents' Trophy winner Catholic, finished with an average of 8.48. The Cardinals won both men's and women's lacrosse for the second straight season and competed in both the baseball and softball postseasons. In the winter, Catholic won the men's swimming and diving conference title, finished as the runner-up in women's basketball, and competed in the men's basketball postseason. The Cardinal's lone fall title came in men's soccer.
The 2019-20 Presidents' Trophy winner, Scranton, finished third in the standings with a final average of 7.64. The Royals took home three Landmark Championships this year that included field hockey, women's soccer, and women's basketball. This spring, Scranton competed in six of the all the team sports postseasons and finished in the top four in men's and women's golf.
Making the biggest leap in the standings was Drew University. The Rangers, who finished seventh and sixth after the fall and winter sports seasons respectively, finished fourth with an average of 7.57. Drew won the women's tennis, and men's and women's golf championships and was the runner-up in men's tennis. They also competed in the women's lacrosse tournament. The Rangers had an outstanding winter season, claiming the program's first-ever Landmark women's swimming and diving title, and placing second on the men's side. The men's basketball team finished as the runner-up while the women had an appearance in the postseason.
Five-time Presidents' Trophy winner, Moravian University finished fifth (6.78), followed by Elizabethtown College (6.05), Goucher College (2.95), and Juniata College (2.64). The Presidents' Trophy was created in the inaugural year of the conference to recognize the best overall athletics program.
The Trophy is awarded based on a formula that rewards institutions for regular-season conference standings as well as results in Landmark postseason competition. The point structure was revised in the summer of 2016 with different point hierarchies for the team and individual sports, but the maximum number of points any team can earn is 15. The total number of points each institution earns is divided by the number of Landmark sports sponsored to determine the average.