FARMINGTON, Utah (July 25, 2021) – For the fourth time in school history, the Big Sky Conference Presidents' Cup lives in Flagstaff. In an announcement by the league office on Sunday, Northern Arizona University Athletics claimed the 2020-21 Presidents' Cup, becoming the third institution to win the award four or more times.
Northern Arizona's fourth Presidents' Cup ties Eastern Washington for second-most in the award's 19-year history. It is the Lumberjacks' first Presidents' Cup since winning it in back-to-back seasons in 2012-13 and 2013-14.
Coupled with NAU's sweep of the
2020-21 Big Sky All-Sport Trophies, this year marks the second instance that a school claimed the Men's and Women's All-Sport Trophies and the Presidents' Cup in a singular year. Northern Arizona was also the first, doing so in 2013-14.
"We are so proud of the academic and athletic excellence displayed by NAU student-athletes," said Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics
Mike Marlow. "Prior to the 2020-21 academic year, our student-athletes, coaches and staff embraced the goal of becoming stronger as a result of the perseverance required to face the unique challenges last year presented. The Presidents' Cup is a strong indication that they did indeed accomplish their goals."
The Presidents' Cup promotes the Big Sky's commitment to academics and recognizes a member school's overall success in the classroom and athletic competition. It is given annually to the school that excels both academically and athletically and is measure by various categories.
Final regular-season standings in eight of the league's 14 sports make up the athletic portion of the Presidents' Cup criteria. In men's and women's cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field and golf, points are awarded based on a team's finish at the Big Sky Championships. Schools receive an average point total per sport and then are ranked accordingly.
Meanwhile, the academic portion consists of each institution's academic progress rate (APR) from the previous year, and each team's grade point average in Big Sky sponsored sports for the current year.
In the final Presidents' Cup rankings, NAU edged Idaho for the award by one point, while Montana State and Weber State came in four points behind for third place.
Athletically, the Lumberjacks were without a doubt, the conference's top member this year having swept the All-Sport Trophies for the sixth time in school history. NAU landed first in the athletic tier standings with three first-place finishes (men's tennis, women's tennis, soccer) and Big Sky Championship titles for women's cross country and men's and women's outdoor track & field. No other school had more than three programs land at the top of their respective sports.
The Men's and Women's All-Sport Trophy sweep was a departmental effort though, as 10 of NAU's 12 Big Sky sponsored teams placed in the top four this year. Furthermore, eight of the 12 Lumberjack teams (men's and women's cross country, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's outdoor track & field, soccer and golf) that competed in 2020-21 placed in the top two of their respective sports.
But NAU excelled well beyond athletic competition, as the Lumberjacks received the highest APR ranking this year with a single-year rate of 990. In addition, every single Big Sky sponsored program in the department had a team GPA of 3.00 or better for the 2020-21 academic year.
Led by women's tennis' 3.66, a total of six programs including volleyball (3.61), golf (3.58), soccer (3.57), men's basketball (3.56) and women's track & field/cross country (3.50) had team GPAs of 3.50 or higher.
As a department, NAU Athletics' Big Sky programs sported a cumulative GPA of 3.43 for the recently completed school year. When taking into account the swimming & diving program, which claimed their eighth consecutive WAC championship this year but did not factor in the Presidents' Cup rankings, the department's cumulative year GPA rises to 3.46.
Big Sky Presidents' Cup Annual Winners
2002-03 – Weber State
2003-04 – Weber State
2004-05 – Montana State
2005-06 – Northern Arizona
2006-07 – Montana
2007-08 – Weber State
2008-09 – Weber State
2009-10 – Eastern Washington
2010-11 – Montana
2011-12 – Montana State
2012-13 – Northern Arizona
2013-14 – Northern Arizona
2014-15 – Eastern Washington
2015-16 – Eastern Washington
2016-17 – North Dakota
2017-18 – Eastern Washington
2018-19 – Weber State
2019-20 – Presidents' Cup not awarded
2020-21 – Northern Arizona
