SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – South Dakota State won its second straight Summit League Commissioner's Cup and seventh overall following the conclusion of the 2021-22 academic year.
The Jackrabbits claimed the top spot by earning 106.5 total points between their men's and women's programs, which included six combined regular season and championship titles that counted towards the cup.
The SDSU men's basketball team became the first in Summit League history to run the table in regular season play, posting an 18-0 league mark, while the women's basketball team shared the regular season title with a 17-1 mark.
The Jackrabbits' softball team claimed its second consecutive regular season title, while the men's indoor track and field team, and the men's and women's cross country teams each won championship titles. The Jacks also won the cup in 2010-11, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2020-21.
SDSU stood atop the Dr. William Steinbrecher Men's All-Sports Award standings for the seventh time in the last 10 years, finishing with 45 points, while South Dakota topped the Dr. Helen Smiley Women's All-Sports Award standings for the fifth time in the last seven years, finishing with 70 points.
The Coyote women earned a share of the regular season league basketball title and won the program's first indoor track and field title along with its first outright outdoor track and field title.
Denver finished fifth with 72 points and won a league-best eight combined titles in the 11 Summit League sports the Pioneers sponsor. DU won championship titles in men's and women's swimming and diving and men's and women's golf to go along with regular season titles in men's and women's soccer and men's and women's tennis.
Omaha, whose volleyball team won the program's first regular season title in the fall of 2021, was sixth with 57 points. Kansas City edged newcomer St. Thomas for seventh with 49.5 points, while the Tommies took eighth with 49 points.
North Dakota (45.5 points; ninth) and Western Illinois (40 points, 10
th) round out the cup standings.
The Commissioner's Cup is given annually to the member institution that collects the most combined points in relationship to its placement in the regular season standings for men's and women's soccer, volleyball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, softball and baseball and its championship placement in men's and women's cross country, swimming and diving, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field and golf.
The All-Sports Awards are given to the institutions that accumulate the most points in men's sports and women's sports. The men's award is named for former Valparaiso Director of Athletics Dr. William Steinbrecher, who guided the Crusaders from 1979-2004, while the women's award is named for former Western Illinois Director of Athletics Dr. Helen Smiley, who headed WIU's athletic program from 1994-2001.
Standings for the 2021-22 Commissioner's Cup and the Dr. William Steinbrecher Men's All-Sports and Dr. Helen Smiley Women's All-Sports Awards can be found below. The breakdown of each institution's points and finishes within each sport can be found within the attached PDF.
| 2021-22 FINAL STANDINGS |
| Commissioner's Cup |
| Place |
School |
Points |
| 1. |
South Dakota State |
106.5 |
| 2. |
South Dakota |
100 |
| 3. |
North Dakota State |
87 |
| 4. |
Oral Roberts |
76.5 |
| 5. |
Denver |
72 |
| 6. |
Omaha |
57 |
| 7. |
Kansas City |
49.5 |
| 8. |
St. Thomas |
49 |
| 9. |
North Dakota |
45.5 |
| 10. |
Western Illinois |
40 |
|
| Dr. William Steinbrecher Men's All-Sports Award |
| Place |
School |
Points |
| 1. |
South Dakota State |
45 |
| 2. |
North Dakota State |
42 |
| 3. |
Oral Roberts |
35 |
| 4. |
South Dakota |
30 |
| 5. |
Denver |
29 |
| 6. |
St. Thomas |
24 |
| 7. |
Kansas City |
18.5 |
| 8. |
Western Illinois |
18 |
| 9. |
Omaha |
14 |
| 10. |
North Dakota |
13 |
|
| Dr. Helen Smiley Women's All-Sports Award |
| Place |
School |
Points |
| 1. |
South Dakota |
70 |
| 2. |
South Dakota State |
61.5 |
| 3. |
North Dakota State |
45 |
| 4. |
Denver |
43 |
| 5. |
Omaha |
42.5 |
| 6. |
Oral Roberts |
41.5 |
| 7. |
North Dakota |
32.5 |
| 8. |
Kansas City |
31 |
| 9. |
St. Thomas |
25 |
| 10. |
Western Illinois |
22 |
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