SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – South Dakota State earned its fourth straight Summit League Commissioner’s Cup and ninth overall since moving to the Division I ranks. The Jackrabbits claimed the top spot by earning 91.5 total points between their men’s and women’s programs as they matched Oral Roberts with the most combined cups in League history.
Under the direction of athletics director Justin Sell, SDSU won regular season titles in men’s and women’s basketball and softball and captured the men’s cross country championship, while also finishing runner-up in the women’s soccer regular season race and runner-up at the women’s cross country and men’s golf championships.
The Jackrabbits’ softball team claimed its fourth consecutive regular season title, while the men's cross country team took home a League-record eighth consecutive Summit League Championship title. The Jacks also won the cup in 2010-11, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23.
SDSU also claimed the Dr. William Steinbrecher Men’s All-Sports Award standings for the ninth time in the last 12 years, finishing with 38 points, while NDSU was second with 32 and St. Thomas was third with 29 points.
South Dakota topped the Dr. Helen Smiley Women’s All-Sports Award standings for the seventh time in the last nine years, finishing with 55.5 points, which was just two ahead of the Jackrabbits. The Coyotes once again prevented a clean sweep by SDSU after sharing a women’s volleyball title and winning a women’s cross country title. NDSU finished with 41.5 points to edge Denver for third in the women’s all-sport standings.
Summit League Commissioner Josh Fenton presented the trophies to South Dakota State and South Dakota at the League’s annual Joint Council meetings held in Kansas City this year.
South Dakota finished second in the overall standings with 83 points, while NDSU was third with 73.5 points. St. Thomas placed fourth to earn its highest finish in the standings in three years as a League member. The Tommies secured 60.5 points and edged Denver by a half-point as the Pioneers took fifth with 60 points.
For the second consecutive year, the Pioneers won a League-best eight combined titles in the 11 Summit League sports DU sponsors. The Pios won regular season titles in men's soccer, women’s soccer, volleyball, and men’s and women's tennis, while also capturing championship titles in men’s and women’s swimming and diving and women’s golf.
The bottom four spots were separated by 6.5 points as that quartet was led by Omaha, who placed sixth with 55.5 points. North Dakota was seventh with 54.5 points, while Kansas City garnered seventh with 51.5 points and Oral Roberts rounded out the overall cup standings with 49 points.
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 2023-24 Commissioner's Cup and the Dr. William Steinbrecher Men's All-Sports and Dr. Helen Smiley Women's All-Sports Awards are listed below. The breakdown of each institution's points and finishes within each sport can be found on the Commissioner's Cup
webpage.
2023-24 FINAL STANDINGS
Commissioner’s Cup
| Place |
School |
Points |
| 1. |
South Dakota State |
91.5 |
| 2. |
South Dakota |
83 |
| 3. |
North Dakota State |
73.5 |
| 4. |
St. Thomas |
60.5 |
| 5. |
Denver |
60 |
| 6. |
Omaha |
55.5 |
| 7. |
North Dakota |
54.5 |
| 8. |
Kansas City |
51.5 |
| 9. |
Oral Roberts |
49 |
Dr. William Steinbrecher Men's All-Sports Award
| Place |
School |
Points |
| 1. |
South Dakota State |
38 |
| 2. |
North Dakota State |
32 |
| 3. |
St. Thomas |
29 |
| 4. |
South Dakota |
27.5 |
| 5. |
Kansas City |
23.5 |
| 6. |
North Dakota |
22.5 |
| 7. |
Oral Roberts |
20.5 |
| 8. |
Denver |
20 |
| 9. |
Omaha |
16 |
Dr. Helen Smiley Women’s All-Sports Award
| Place |
School |
Points |
| 1. |
South Dakota |
55.5 |
| 2. |
South Dakota State |
53.5 |
| 3. |
North Dakota State |
41.5 |
| 4. |
Denver |
40 |
| 5. |
Omaha |
39.5 |
| 6. |
North Dakota |
32 |
| 7. |
St. Thomas |
31.5 |
| 8. |
Oral Roberts |
28.5 |
| 9. |
Kansas City |
28 |
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