Elizabethtown Holds Off Scranton to Claim 2016-17 Presidents’ Trophy
TOWSON, Md. – The closest Presidents’ Trophy race ultimately came down to the final championship of the 2016-17 season.
Trailing Scranton by three-hundredths of a point, Elizabethtown needed to win the Landmark Baseball Championship to claim the title. The Blue Jays did just that, winning their first Landmark baseball championship in game seven over Susquehanna to claim their first ever Presidents’ Trophy. Elizabethtown finished with 8.61 points and Scranton finished with 8.50 points to place second.
Spring titles in baseball, men’s lacrosse, and women’s tennis increased the Blue Jays’ yearly total up to seven. They also took home crowns in men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, and women’s indoor track and field in 2016-17. Seven of Elizabethtown’s team sports participated in Landmark championship tournaments, with three topping the regular season standings, and the institution finished as the runner-up in men’s soccer.
The Blue Jays’ overall athletic department was necessary to hold of the Royals, who stayed in the top-two through the year. The Royals won championships in men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, and was the runner-up in women’s lacrosse and women’s tennis.
Moravian followed in third with 7.54 points, while Susquehanna ended the year in fourth with 7.20 points.
Five of the eight Landmark schools won at least one conference championship this year, with all eight schools qualifying for at least one team final.
2016-17 Final Presidents’ Trophy Standings
- Elizabethtown – 8.61
- Scranton – 8.49
- Moravian – 7.54
- Susquehanna – 7.20
- Catholic – 7.01
- Drew – 5.40
- Juniata – 4.85
- Goucher – 2.97
About the Landmark Presidents Trophy:
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 last summer with different point hierarchies for 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.