INDIANAPOLIS - With the conclusion of the 2014 Baseball Championships, the final rankings in the Presidents' Cup were revealed, and the Cedarville University Yellow Jackets have secured the top spot in the final standings, earning the 2013-14 Presidents’ Cup.
The Presidents’ Cup will be presented to Cedarville University next week during the year-end banquet, when the G-MAC will announce the Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the Male and Female Athlete of the Year. As always, scan the QR code on the Presidents’ Cup itself and it will take you directly to the Presidents' Cup Championship page for that team at G-MACsports.com.
Presidents' Cup Recap:
2013-14 marked the second year overall in the young history of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, but it was the first active year for the G-MAC as an active NCAA Division II conference. The conference was approved for active membership after spending the first year in the educational assessment program to become an active Division II Conference.
Last year the G-MAC presented 12 Conference Championship, but in 2013-14 that was expanded to 15 championships including Men’s and Women’s Cross Country, Men’s and Women’s Soccer, Women’s Volleyball, Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track & Field, Men’s and Women’s Golf, Men’s and Women’s Tennis, Softball and Baseball. The conference also added five new member institutions to its conference schedule, making the battle for the Presidents’ Cup that much more difficult.
Throughout the year, Alderson Broaddus University, Cedarville University, Central State University, Davis & Elkins College, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Ohio Valley University, Salem International University, Trevecca Nazarene University, and Ursuline College have fought to earn points through their performances at the G-MAC Championships toward the Presidents’ Cup standings.
Similar to 2012-13, Cedarville took advantage of a dominate fall season to grab the early lead in the Presidents Cup standings. The Yellow Jackets secured the first two championships in the G-MAC, winning both the men’s and the women’s cross country championships. They also added a men’s soccer and a volleyball championship, winning four of the five fall championships.
As the winter came and went, Cedarville held onto a pretty dominate lead, but Trevecca Nazarene, Ursuline, and Davis & Elkins began to climb up the rankings and closing the gap. In the spring, that gap closed even more despite the Yellow Jackets men’s outdoor track and field championship. Ursuline College secured the women’s outdoor track and field championship, Trevecca Nazarene grabbed the men’s and women’s golf and the softball titles, and Davis & Elkins won the men’s and women’s tennis championships.
However, Cedarville, who lost a similar lead last year to Trevecca Nazarene in the spring, was able to hold on to its lead because of the depth of talent in the G-MAC and because despite only winning one total fall/spring championship, CU finished second or third in women’s basketball, women’s outdoor track and field, women’s tennis, men’s tennis, softball, and baseball.
Some other honors coming for Cedarville included Men’s Runner of the Year Matt Brooker, Women’s Runner of the Year Alex Archambault, Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year Paul Orchard, Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year Jacoby Ziegler and Defensive Player of the Year Carly Gregory, Volleyball Player of the Year Hannah Wagner, Women’s Tennis Player of the Year Lauren Jackson, Women’s Cross Country Coach and Track & Field Coach of the Year Jeff Bolender, Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year Brett Faro, Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year John McGillivray, Women’s Tennis Freshman of the Year Lauren Jackson, Baseball Freshman of the Year Drew Johnson, and they totaled 52 All-Conference First Team selections and numerous second team and honorable mentions.
In 2014-15, Cedarville will look to repeat as Presidents’ Cup championships, but TNU will be looking to return to the top, while the rest of the G-MAC membership will look to make it three different winners in three years.