Catholic Holds Off Moravian to Claim 2014-15 Presidents' Trophy
TOWSON, Md. — The closest Presidents’ Trophy race since the inaugural year of the Landmark Conference ultimately came down to the final championship of the 2014-15 season.
Catholic rallied past Moravian in last weekend’s baseball championship, and that title allowed the Cardinals to hold off a furious spring charge from the Greyhounds and claim the institution’s second-ever Presidents’ Trophy. Catholic finished with 8.08 points, two-hundredths ahead of Moravian’s 8.06 points in second.
Spring titles in baseball, men’s lacrosse and women’s lacrosse increased the Cardinals’ yearly total up to six. They also took home crowns in men’s soccer, women’s soccer and women’s basketball earlier in 2014-15. Ten of Catholic’s 12 team sports participated in Landmark championship tournaments, with five topping the regular season standings, and the institution finished as the runner-up in field hockey, men’s basketball and women’s swimming & diving.
The Cardinals’ overall athletic department depth was necessary to hold of the Greyhounds, who rose up from fifth place after the winter season through spring championships in softball, men’s outdoor track & field and women’s outdoor track & field. Moravian also received bonus points from its men’s tennis team’s playoff appearance, but ultimately came up just short in its quest for a Landmark-leading fourth Presidents’ Trophy. The Greyhounds end the year with four titles after also sweeping the indoor track & field championships in February.
Scranton followed in third place with 7.72 points, while Elizabethtown ends its first full season in the Landmark in fourth place with 7.50 points.
The Royals were second behind Catholic with nine programs qualifying for the conference playoffs, including four in the spring. Two of those four, men’s lacrosse and women’s tennis, finished as the runner-up. The Blue Jays also reached the playoffs in four spring sports, with women’s tennis winning the institution’s first team Landmark title on May 2.
The Cardinals’ 0.02 margin of victory was the closest since Moravian (6.86) edged out Scranton (6.85) in 2007-08. Catholic’s other Presidents’ Trophy came in the 2012-13 academic year.
Seven of the nine Landmark schools won at least one conference championship this year, with eight of nine qualifying for at least one team final.
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 this summer with different point hierarchies for team and individual sports, but the maximum number of points any team can earn is 14. The total number of points each institution earns is divided by the number of Landmark sports sponsored to determine the average.