Geneseo claims third straight Commissioner's Cup
CORTLAND, N.Y.- Geneseo won its third-consecutive State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Dr. Patrick R. Damore Commissioner's Cup, announced Monday at the conference's annual awards banquet.
The Knights finished with an average of 8.34 points to add its fourth cup championship in the 21-year history of the award after also winning the title following the 2002-03 campaign. Cortland, a 17-time winner and the only other recipient of the cup, came in second with an average of 7.36 points followed by Oneonta in third with 7.12 points.
Geneseo had an incredible year in athletic competition. The program won nine SUNYAC titles and finished second in three other championships during the fall, winter, and spring seasons.
During the fall season, the Knights picked up conference championships in both men's and women's cross country. The men's team was led by junior Isaac Garcia-Cassani, who was the SUNYAC Runner of the Year, while Sara Rosenzweig won the Runner of the Year award on the women's side. Both teams moved onto the NCAA Cross Country Championship where the men's team placed second and the women's team came in third.
Women's tennis garnered their sixth straight conference title in the fall, defeating New Paltz with a team score of 5-1. Anika Pornpitaksuk was able to contribute wins in singles and double competition to propel the Knights to victory.
Coming into the SUNYAC field hockey championship tournament as a three seed, the Knights were facing an uphill battle. When #1 Cortland was upset in the first round, Geneseo was able to work past New Paltz in the first round and defeated Oneonta in overtime, 3-2, in the championship for their first title since 2010.
In the winter season, Geneseo was able to pick up four more titles. At the SUNYAC swimming and diving championships, they were able to extend their dominance over the competition by picking up trophies on both the men's and women's sides. Nancy Nasky led the women's team to their tenth straight title and was named Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet. The men were able to pick up their sixteenth title in seventeen years. The Knights then swept the SUNYAC indoor track and field championships, picking up their first title, on either side, since 2011. Isaac Garcia-Cassani was named indoor track athlete of the year and Marissa Cossaro and Alexa Wandy were named track athlete and field athlete of the year, respectively. The Geneseo women's basketball team finished undefeated in conference play (18-0) before falling to New Paltz in the conference championship final
The Knights closed out the sporting year with a victory at the outdoor track and field championships. The women's team won their second title in three years, while the men's team took second. Wandy was named the 2017 SUNYAC Field Athlete of the Meet after totaling 20 points for her team. Wandy won the long jump and broke the championship meet record with a 6.09 meter jump. She also captured the SUNYAC crown in the triple jump.
| School | Score |
| 1. Geneseo | 8.34 |
| 2. Cortland | 7.36 |
| 3. Oneonta | 7.12 |
| 4. Brockport | 6.24 |
| 5. New Paltz | 6.20 |
| 6. Plattsburgh | 5.58 |
| 7. Oswego | 5.43 |
| 8. Fredonia | 5.25 |
| 9. Buffalo State | 5.09 |
| 10. Potsdam | 2.23 |
*The Commissioner's Cup point system is determined by the 20 different conference sports in the fall, winter and spring. A 10-point system is used in each sport. The first-place team gets 10 points, the second-place team gets 9 points, etc. A team's regular-season finish will be added to their post-season finish and divided by two for their final total for that sport. The total number of points that a school accumulates is divided by the number of conference sports it has. This school total determines the overall winner at the end of the school year.
