INDIANAPOLIS – For the second time in school history, Lewis University has captured the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Commissioner’s Cup, it was announced by the league office on Tuesday. The Flyers earned the award for the 2022-23 academic year by posting the strongest finish in the league’s seven core sports.
Points are allocated for the Commissioner’s Cup based on the athletic department’s finish in the GLVC’s postseason tournaments and league standings in men’s soccer, women’s soccer, volleyball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, softball, and baseball. All 13 Conference members sponsor these sports at the intercollegiate level.
In one of the closest races in league history, Lewis earned 69 points over the course of the academic year to best runner-up University of Indianapolis by just two points with its total of 67. Maryville University came in a close third with 63 points, while University of Illinois Springfield tallied 59 in fourth place for its best finish since joining the league in 2008. Rounding out the top five was last year’s champion, Drury University, with 55 points.
University of Missouri-St. Louis and Rockhurst University tied for sixth with 53 points, while McKendree University finished eighth with 51 points. The final five places in ninth through 13th were respectively filled by Quincy University (47), Missouri S&T (44), Truman State University (30), William Jewell College (24), and Southwest Baptist University (22).
Lewis made the GLVC Championship Tournament in six of the seven core sports this year, highlighted by a league title in volleyball and softball, as well as a runner-up finish in men’s soccer and women’s basketball. Additionally, the Flyers were the fourth seed in each GLVC Championship Tournament for women’s soccer and baseball.
Instituted prior to the 2002-03 season, the Commissioner’s Cup has had six different institutions stake claim to the award. Former league member Bellarmine became the sixth school in 2018-19 with its first win in its final year of league membership, while former member Southern Indiana earned its second Cup in 2017-18 and first in 2003-04. Rockhurst picked up its first honor in 2016-17. UIndy scored its second Cup in 2015-16 after the first came in 2013-14, which was bookended by other first-time winners Drury (2014-15) and Lewis (2012-13). Drury also won last year’s Cup. Following the 2011-12 season, former GLVC member Northern Kentucky took home its fifth-straight and eighth overall Cup over a 10-year span, while SIU Edwardsville – another former member – earned the Commissioner’s Cup in 2007. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that suspended spring sport competition in 2020, the 2019-20 Cup was not awarded.
The standings for the 2022-23 GLVC Commissioner’s Cup are as follows:
| 1. |
Lewis |
69 |
| 2. |
Indianapolis |
67 |
| 3. |
Maryville |
63 |
| 4. |
Illinois Springfield |
59 |
| 5. |
Drury |
55 |
| 6. |
Missouri-St. Louis |
53 |
| 7. |
Rockhurst |
53 |
| 8. |
McKendree |
51 |
| 9. |
Quincy |
47 |
| 10. |
Missouri S&T |
44 |
| 11. |
Truman State |
30 |
| 12. |
William Jewell |
24 |
| 13. |
Southwest Baptist |
22 |