West Chester Claims 2012-13 Dixon Trophy
2012-13 Dixon Trophy Final Standings
All-Time Standings
Harrisburg, Pa. – West Chester University has claimed the Dixon Trophy for the 2012-13 season announced today at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Board of Directors meeting. The award, given in each of the last 18 years to the league’s top athletics program, is the first for the university.
The Dixon Trophy is named after F. Eugene Dixon, Jr., former chairman of the Board of Governors of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education. Each year it is awarded to the PSAC institution that accumulates the top score based on results of conference playoffs and/or regular-season records.
In 2012-13 the 16-member league instituted a new format to calculate the Dixon Trophy standings. In previous years only an institution’s top 12 finishes – six men’s and six women’s – were used to calculate a point total. This season the standings were based on an average score for each of the 23 PSAC Championship sports that an institution sponsors. The point values for each sport will remained the same; 16 points to each conference champion and descending point values for respective placement. The second- through last-place values vary depending on the number of teams that sponsor the sport.
West Chester narrowly edged Indiana (Pa.) University in a battle of two schools seeking their first Dixon Trophy title. Among its 22 sports, West Chester generated an average score of 10.77 while IUP netted a 10.74 for its 19 sport program. The three one-hundredths of a point marked the closest margin between any two schools throughout the standings. Shippensburg, with a 10.05 average, was the only other school to register in double figures, while Slippery Rock (9.94) and Edinboro (9.85) rounded out the top five.
On their way to the top spot, the Golden Rams were propelled by four conference championships – men’s and women’s swimming, along with field hockey and women’s lacrosse. Coming from third in the standings following the winter season, West Chester’s average received a boost in the spring with the lacrosse title, a runner-up finish in baseball and fourth-place points in softball. Other strong showings included third-place points in men’s soccer and men’s golf, fourth-place points in women’s soccer and men’s basketball, and double-digit totals in women’s volleyball and women’s tennis.
IUP, which led after the fall and winter seasons, won league crowns in football, men’s golf and men’s basketball. Top performers on the women’s side included a runner-up in tennis, third-place points in lacrosse and cross country, and fourth-place showings in swimming and field hockey. Generally among the top athletics programs in the PSAC, 2012-13 marked the fifth time the Crimson Hawks have finished second in the Dixon race.
Shippensburg won more PSAC titles than any other school with crowns in men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field, and women’s cross country. A runner-up finish in football, and third-place points in field hockey and women’s volleyball, also aided the Raiders on their way to a top-three placement in the standings for the fifth straight season.
Gannon excelled with the top score on the women’s side with an 11.75 average, followed by West Chester (11.04), Shippensburg (10.91) and California (10.85). Slippery Rock posted the highest men’s average at 12.38, with IUP (10.94), West Chester (10.45) and East Stroudsburg (10.44) netting strong totals, as well.
With West Chester’s breakthrough, half of the PSAC’s schools have won the Dixon Trophy at least once since it was first awarded in 1996. Shippensburg owns the most titles with seven, while Bloomsburg and Lock Haven have won three apiece. Joining West Chester with a single triumph are California, Kutztown, Millersville and Slippery Rock.