Troy, NY----The Sage Colleges’ athletic department finished in second place in the annual race for the Skyline Conference Sportsmanship Award. The Gators have now finished in second place in the race for the honor three straight years.  Sage finished as the runner-up in the race for the league’s award for excellence on and off the playing fields with their performances and behavior.

Sage Athletic Director, Dani Drews said of the honor, “"It's more than just wins and losses, it is also about how the game was meant to be played.” Drews added, “At Sage, we stress good sportsmanship and respect by our staff and student-athletes.  It is rewarding to see that our opponents also recognize those efforts."            

Bard College has captured the Skyline Conference’s Sportsmanship Trophy for displaying outstanding team sportsmanship during the 2010-11 academic year, marking the program’s second straight award.  The Skyline Conference instituted the Sportsmanship Trophy in 2007-08 to gauge team sportsmanship among its member schools.

Bard compiled 80.19 points out of a possible 110 (11 sports), for an overall rating of .729.  The Sage Colleges finished a close second with a rating of .724 while Yeshiva was third with a rating of .721. 

A Team Sportsmanship Award is presented in each sport.  Bard earned Team Sportsmanship Awards in men’s soccer and men’s basketball, while Mount Saint Mary (women’s cross country, men’s & women’s swimming) and St. Joseph’s-L.I. (women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s volleyball) each had a league-high three teams honored.  Sage garnered the award in both women’s basketball and women’s lacrosse. NYU-Poly’s baseball team and Sage’s women’s lacrosse program both earned composite scores of 8.81, the highest of any team in any sport in 2010-2011.

A school earns points toward the Sportsmanship Trophy based upon a 10-point scale in each sport.  Opposing coaches rate each team on a scale of 1 to 10 with a '1' being considered poor sportsmanship and a '10' being considered outstanding sportsmanship.  A score of 5 to 6 is considered average.  A school's scores in each sport are then added together and then divided by the total number of points that could possibly be earned.

Additional Team Sportsmanship Award winners came in the sports of men’s golf (Farmingdale State – 8.17), women’s tennis (NYU-Poly – 7.43), men’s cross country (Maritime – 7.55), women’s basketball (Sage – 7.67), men’s lacrosse (Maritime – 8.00), men’s volleyball (Yeshiva – 8.40), and softball (Old Westbury – 7.64). 

Yeshiva won the award in 2007-08 and 2008-09. 

2010-11 SKYLINE CONFERENCE SPORTSMANSHIP TROPHY FINAL STANDINGS

Institution                   Total Points    Possible Points            Rating

Bard                            80.19               110                              .729

Sage                            86.83               120                              .724

Yeshiva                        86.57               120                              .721

Mount Saint Mary       106.82             150                              .712

St. Joseph’s-L.I.            90.47               130                              .696

NYU-Poly                     88.64               130                              .682

Maritime                     74.85               110                              .680

Old Westbury              80.47               120                              .671

Purchase                     97.54               150                              .650

Farmingdale State      89.76               140                              .641

Mount Saint Vincent   87.46               140                              .625

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