June 13, 2002
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. -The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference released its final 2001-2002 Commissioner's Cup standings today and Siena College placed fourth in the overall standings with 89.50 points. Marist College captured the Championship for the fourth consecutive season with a total score of 122 points.
Siena has made a steady climb in the standings the last four years, improving from 10th place in 1998-99 to ninth the following year and sixth last season. This year's finish was the highest since Marist and Rider joined the Conference in 1997 (which increased the MAAC's membership to 10 institutions) and Siena's highest overall performance since 1993-94 (3rd).
"The recent Commissioner's Cup Standings reflect Siena's commitment to providing a well-balanced, competitive athletic program," Director of Athletics John D'Argenio said. "The last few years, we have made several enhancements to the overall athletic program, and the improvement shown in the Commissioners Cup standings is a reflection of the College's continued dedication to its student-athletes."
The complete field finished as follows: Marist (122), Manhattan (113), Fairfield (111.50), Siena (89.50), Loyola (86.50), Rider (85), Iona (77.50), Saint Peter's (76), Niagara (68) and Canisius (63.50).
"The closeness of this year's race in all three categories is indicative of how strong all of our schools on the field, and we look forward to another competitive race next season," noted MAAC Commissioner Richard J. Ensor.
In the men's standings, Manhattan finished second with 58 points, followed by Rider (49), Iona (44), Fairfield (41.50), Loyola (39), Siena (37), Niagara (34.50), Saint Peter's (29) and Canisius (24.50).
On the women's side, Fairfield won for the sixth time in the last nine years. Marist was second with 58 points, followed by Manhattan (55), Siena (52.50), Loyola (47.50), Saint Peter's (47), Canisius (39), Rider (36), and Iona and Niagara (33.50).
When considering just the MAAC core sports (M & W Soccer, Volleyball, M & W Basketball, Men's Golf, Cross Country, M & W Tennis, Swimming, Baseball and Softball), Siena jumped to third in the overall standings.
Siena has 19 Division I sports, 17 of which compete in the MAAC or its associate leagues. Field Hockey is an associate member of the Northeast Conference and the newly added sport of Water Polo competes as an independent.
