The fourth time proved to be the charm for Adelphi University’s athletic program as the Northeast-10 Conference announced them as the 2012-2013 President’s Cup recipients earlier this month.
In its fourth year in the conference, Adelphi scored a total of 177 points to beat out school such as Bentley and Stonehill. The Presidents’ Cup is presented annually to signify overall athletic excellence in the conference and awarded to the institution that compiles the most overall points, based on their final regular-season standings from all of their programs.
“It’s a balance of excellence,” says Robert Hartwell, Adelphi director of athletics and assistant vice president. “It’s not always about being the champion but we’re always being competitive.”
The victory comes off of a tremendous spring season where spring sports including baseball, softball and lacrosse all found themselves battling for first place in the conference.
Hartwell points out, the achievement is especially impressive considering Adelphi was awarded no points for men’s soccer (which is division I), ice hockey or football, which the school has no team for. While others receive points for those sports, Adelphi had to be extra impressive in their other athletic programs in order to make up for the loss of points there.
“All programs showed overall excellence this year,” said Hartwell. “Individually and teamwise we are performing really well.”
According to Hartwell, another great aspect of the NE-10 Conference and the President’s Cup is that it understands the role of athletics but also appreciates academic excellence. The NE-10 consistently has their athletics students ranked in the top half of the GPA, which Adelphi also represents proudly.
“GPA and academics don’t count for points towards the Presidents Cup, but we know we are on a level playing field,” said Hartwell.
With many seniors continuously graduating from their respective athletic programs, Hartwell sees the athletic program at Adelphi as a way to help them in something beyond athletics.
“Even if they don’t get into the pros, they learned discipline and focus through athletics,” he says. “Athletes know how to handle more through going through morning practices and not always having the free time other students may have.”
The athletics benefit from the support of the total university. Allowing the athletics to have great facilities and the ability to travel provides student athletes with a great experience across the board.
“This represents only part of the excellence at Adelphi,” says Hartwell. “In athletics, you like to brag and we won bragging rights for a great conference. Everybody at the university should be very proud of that.”
