Shippensburg Leads Dixon Trophy Standings
Complete Standings (.pdf)
Shippensburg University holds the lead in the race for the 2009-10 Dixon Trophy following results of the fall sports season. The award is given annually to the most successful institution in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference based on league playoffs and/or regular-season finish.
The award is named in honor of F. Eugene Dixon, Jr., former chairman of Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors. Presented for the first time following the 1995-96 academic year, the trophy is now in its 15th year of existence. In the final tabulations following the spring season, only an institution’s top 12 sport finishes – six men’s and six women’s - count toward its total.
The Red Raider and Lady Raider programs have combined to total 79.5 points, 4.5 points ahead of Bloomsburg University and 5.0 points ahead of defending champion California University. Millersville University (63) and Indiana (Pa.) University (61) complete the top five.
Shippensburg had built its lead primarily on the strength of PSAC Championships in football and women's cross country. The Lady Raider programs also had strong showings with a runner-up spot in field hockey and a semifinal appearance in volleyball. The Red Raider men's cross country team was a key contributor, as well, finishing in third place at the league championship meet.
Bloomsburg's lone fall championship came in field hockey, while the women's cross country team earned a runner-up spot. On the men's side the Huskies registered a playoff appearance in soccer, a divisional runner-up in football and finished fifth in cross country.
California's top finishes came in the form of a title in women's volleyball and a runner-up finish in football. The Vulcans men's golf team tied for second at the PSAC Championship and the Lady Vulcans women's soccer program had its finest season on record, advancing to the semifinals of the league championship.
Seven different institutions have won the Dixon Trophy, led by Shippensburg University with five. The other schools are: Lock Haven University (3), Bloomsburg (2), California (1), Kutztown University (1) Millersville (1) and Slippery Rock University (1).
Seven PSAC Championships will be contested in the 2009-10 winter season: men's and women's basketball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's indoor track & field and wrestling. The next update of the Dixon Trophy standings will be released following the basketball championships in early March.